ChanRobles Virtual law Library

Republic of the Philippines
Department of Labor and Employment
National Wages and Productivity Commission
REGIONAL TRIPARTITE WAGES AND PRODUCTIVITY BOARD
Regional Office No. V
Legazpi City

RULES IMPLEMENTING WAGE ORDER NO. RB V-12

Rule I
General Provisions

P ursuant to Section 6, Rule IV of the NWPC Amended Rules of Procedure on Minimum Wage Fixing and Section  22 of Wage Order No. RB V-12, the following rules are hereby issued for the guidance and compliance by all concerned.

Section  1. Title. This Rules shall be known as the “Rules Implementing Wage Order No. RB V-12”.

Sec.  2. Definition of Terms.

1. “Order” means Wage Order No. RB V-12;

2. “Commission” refers to the National Wages and Productivity Commission;

3. "Board” refers to the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Region V;

4. “Department” refers to the Department of Labor and Employment;

5. "Region V” covers the Provinces of Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate, Sorsogon and the Cities of Iriga, Legazpi, Ligao, Masbate, Naga, Sorsogon and Tabaco;

6. “Agriculture” refers to farming in all its branches and among others, includes cultivation and tillage of the soil, production, cultivation, growing and harvesting of any agricultural commodity, dairying, raising of livestock or poultry, the culture of fish and other aquatic products in farms or ponds, and any activities performed by a farmer or on a farm as an incident to or in conjunction with such farming operations but does not include the manufacturing and/or processing of sugar, coconut, abaca, tobacco, pineapple, aquatic or other farm products;

7. “Plantation Agricultural Enterprise” is one engaged in agriculture with an area of more than 24 hectares in a locality or which employs at least twenty (20) workers. Any other agricultural enterprise shall be considered as “Non-Plantation Agricultural Enterprise”;

8. “Establishment” refers to an economic unit that engages in one or predominantly one kind of economic activity at a single fixed location. For purposes of determining eligibility for exemption, establishments under the same owner but are separately registered with the LGU, SEC, DTI or CDA as the case may be irrespective of their location shall be treated as individual and distinct establishment;

9. "Barangay Micro Business Enterprise” refers to any business entity registered and issued a Certificate of Authority in accordance with R.A. 9178;

10. “Cottage/Handicraft Establishment” is one engaged in an economic endeavor in which the products are primarily done in the home or such other places for profit which requires manual dexterity and craftsmanship;

11. “Basic Wage” means all remuneration or earnings paid by an employer to a worker for services rendered on normal working days and hours but does not include cost-of-living allowances, profit-sharing payments, overtime and premium payments, 13th month pay or other monetary benefits which are not considered as part of nor integrated into the regular salary of the employees on the date the Order became effective;

12. “Minimum Wage Rate” refers to the lowest wage rate that an employer can pay his worker;

13. “Wage Distortion” means a situation where the application of the wage increase prescribed in a Wage Order, results in the elimination or severe contraction of intentional quantitative differences in wage or salary rates between and among employee groups in an establishment as to effectively obliterate the distinctions embodied in such wage structure based on skills, length of service, or other logical bases of differentiation;

Rule II
The New Minimum Wage Rates

Section  1. AMOUNT OF INCREASE. Effective November 30, 2007, all covered workers shall be granted an increase of SIX PESOS (P6.00) per day in their basic wage.cralaw:red

Sec.  2. THE NEW MINIMUM WAGE RATES. Effective November 30, 2007, the new minimum wage rates in the region shall be as follows:

Sec.  3. Coverage. The new minimum wage rates prescribed in the Order shall apply to all minimum wage earners in the private sector in the region, regardless of their positions, designations or status of employment and irrespective of the method by which their wages are paid.cralaw:red

Excluded from the coverage of the Order are household or domestic helpers, persons employed in the personal service of another including family drivers and workers in registered Barangay Micro Business Enterprises (BMBEs) with Certificates of Authority pursuant to R.A. 9178.cralaw:red

Sec.  4. Basis of Minimum Wage Rates. The new minimum wage rates prescribed under the Order shall be for the normal working hours, which shall not exceed eight (8) hours work a day.cralaw:red

Sec.  5. Productivity Based Wages. In order to sustain the rising levels of wages and enhance competitiveness, businesses are strongly encouraged to adopt productivity improvement schemes such as time and motion studies, good housekeeping, quality circles, labor management cooperation as well as implement gain-sharing programs., Accordingly, the Board shall provide the necessary studies and technical assistance pursuant to Republic Act No. 6971 or the Productivity Incentives Act of 1990.cralaw:red

Sec.  6. Creditable Wage Increase. Wage increases granted by an employer within three (3) months before the effectivity of the Order shall be credited as compliance herewith. Where the wage increases granted are less than that prescribed under the Order, the employer shall pay the difference.cralaw:red

Anniversary wage increases provided in collective bargaining agreements, merit wage increases and those resulting from the regularization or promotion of employees shall not be credited as compliance herewith.cralaw:red

Benefits derived from productivity gain-sharing schemes shall not be credited as compliance.cralaw:red

Sec.  7. Application to Private Educational Institution. In the case of private educational institutions, the share of covered workers and employees in the increase in tuition fees for School Year 2007-2008 shall be considered as compliance with the increase set forth herein; provided that if such increase is less than the prescribed adjustment, the employer shall pay the difference in the School Year 2008-2009.cralaw:red

Private education institutions, which have not increased their tuition fees for the School Year 2007-2008, may defer compliance with the provisions of this Order until the beginning of School Year 2008-2009.cralaw:red

In any case, all private educational institutions shall implement the wage rates prescribed herein starting School Year 2008-2009.cralaw:red

Sec.  8. Workers Paid by Results. All workers paid by results, including those who are on piecework, “takay”, “pakyaw”, or task basis, shall receive not less than the applicable minimum wage rates prescribed under the Order for the normal working hours which shall not exceed eight (8) hours work a day, or a proportion thereof for work of less than the normal working hours.cralaw:red

Sec.  9. Application to Contractors. In the case of contracts for construction projects and for security and janitorial services, the prescribed minimum wage rates shall be borne by the principals or clients of the constructions/service contractors and the contracts shall be deemed amended accordingly. In the event, however, that the principal or client fails to pay the prescribed minimum wage rates, the construction/service contractor shall be jointly and severally liable with his principal or client.cralaw:red

 Sec.  10. Wages of Special Groups of Workers. Apprentices and learners shall receive not less than seventy-five percent (75%) of the applicable minimum wage rate prescribed herein.cralaw:red

All learnership and apprenticeship agreements entered into before the effectivity of the Order shall be considered automatically modified insofar as their wage clauses are concerned to reflect the new prescribed wage rate.cralaw:red

All qualified handicapped workers shall receive the full amount of the minimum wage rate in the Order pursuant to R.A. 7277.cralaw:red

 Sec.  11. Suggested Formula in Determining the Equivalent Monthly Regional Minimum Wage Rates. Without prejudice to existing company practices, agreements or policies, the following formula may be used as guides in determining the equivalent monthly minimum wage rates:

A. For those who are required to work everyday including Sundays or rest days, special days and regular holidays:

B. For those who do not work but are considered paid on rest days, special days and regular holiday:
  
EMR = ADR x 365 days / 12

C. For those who do not work and are not considered paid on Sundays or rest days:

EMR = ADR x 313 days / 12

D. For those who do not work and are not considered paid on Saturdays and Sundays or rest days:

EMR = ADR x 261 days / 12

Sec.  12. Mobile and Branch Workers. The prescribed minimum wage rates of workers, who by the nature of their work have to travel, shall be those applicable in the domicile or head office of the employer.cralaw:red

The minimum wage rates of workers working in branches or agencies of establishments within the Region shall be those applicable in the place where they are stationed.cralaw:red

Sec.  13. Transfer of Personnel. The transfer of personnel to areas outside the Region shall not be a valid ground for the reduction of the wage rates being enjoyed by the workers prior to such transfer. The workers transferred to other regions with higher wage rates shall be entitled to the minimum wage rates applicable therein.cralaw:red

Sec.  14. Appeal to the Commission. Any party aggrieved by the Wage Order may file an appeal with the Commission through the Board within ten (10) calendar days from its publication. The Commission shall decide the appeal within sixty (60) calendar days from the date of filing. The appeal shall be accompanied by a memorandum of appeal which shall state the grounds relied upon and the arguments in support of the appeal.cralaw:red

Sec.  15. Effect of Appeal. The filing of the appeal does not operate to stay the Order unless the party appealing such Order shall file with the Commission an undertaking with a surety or sureties satisfactory to the Commission for payment to employees affected by the Order of the corresponding minimum wage rates, in the event such Order is affirmed.cralaw:red

Rule III
Special Provisions

Section  1. Effect on Existing Wage Structure. Should any dispute arise as a result of wage distortion, the employer and the union shall negotiate to correct the distortions through the grievance procedure under their collective bargaining agreement, and if it remains unresolved, through voluntary arbitration. Unless otherwise agreed by the parties in writing, such disputes shall be decided by the voluntary arbitrator or panel of voluntary arbitrators within ten (10) calendar days from the time said dispute is referred to voluntary arbitration.cralaw:red

In cases where there are no collective bargaining agreements or recognized labor unions, the employers and workers shall endeavor to correct such distortions. Any dispute arising there from shall be settled through the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) and if it remains unresolved after ten (10) calendar days of conciliation, the same shall be referred to the appropriate branch of the National Labor Relation Commission (NLRC). The NLRC shall conduct continuous hearings and decide the dispute within twenty (20) calendar days from the time said dispute is submitted for compulsory arbitration.cralaw:red

The pendency of a dispute arising from wage distortion shall not in any way delay the applicability of any increase prescribed in the Order.cralaw:red

Sec.  2. Complaints for Non-Compliance. Complaints for non-compliance with the Order shall be filed with the Regional Office of the Department having jurisdiction over the workplace and shall be subject of enforcement proceedings under Article 128 of the Labor Code, as amended.cralaw:red

Sec.  3. Conduct of Inspection by the Department. The Department shall conduct inspections of establishments, as often as necessary, to determine whether the workers are paid the prescribed wage rates, allowances and other benefits granted by law, any Wage Order or employer practices or policies. In the conduct of inspection in unionized companies, Department inspectors shall always be accompanied by the president or other responsible officer of the recognized bargaining unit. In the case of non-unionized establishments, a worker representing the workers in the said company will accompany the inspector.cralaw:red

The workers’ representative shall have the right to submit his own findings to the Department and to testify on the same if he does not concur with the findings of the labor inspector.cralaw:red

Sec.  4. Non-diminution of Benefits. Nothing in the Order and this Rules shall be construed to reduce any existing wage rates, allowances and benefits of any form under existing laws, decrees, issuances, executive orders, and/or under any contract or agreement between the workers and the employers or employer practices or policies.cralaw:red

Sec.  5. Penal Provision. Pursuant to the provisions of Sec.  12 of RA 6727, as amended by RA 8188, any person, corporation, trust, firm, partnership, association or entity which refuses or fails to pay the prescribed increase in the Order shall be punished by a fine of not less than Twenty-five thousand pesos (P25,000.00) nor more than One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) or imprisonment of not less than two (2) years nor more than four (4) years or both such fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court. Provided, that any person convicted under the Order shall not be entitled to the benefits provided for under the Probation Law.cralaw:red

If the violation is committed by a corporation, trust or firms, partnership, association or any entity, the penalty of imprisonment shall be imposed upon the entity’s responsible officers, including but not limited to the president, vice-president, chief executive officer, general manager, managing director or partner.cralaw:red

Sec.  6. Prohibition Against Injunction. No preliminary or permanent injunction or temporary restraining order may be issued by any court, tribunal or other entity against any proceedings before the Board.cralaw:red

Sec.  7. Freedom to Bargain. The Order shall not be construed to prevent workers in particular firms or enterprises of industries from bargaining for higher wages and flexible working arrangements with their respective employers.cralaw:red

Sec.  8. Reporting Requirements. Any person, company, corporation, partnership or any entity engaged in business shall submit a verified itemized listing of their labor component to the Board not later than January 31, 2008 and every year thereafter in accordance with the form prescribed by the Commission.cralaw:red

Sec.  9. Repealing Clause. All orders, issuances, rules and regulations on wage, or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of the Wage Order and this Rules are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.cralaw:red

Sec.  10. Separability Clause. If any provision or part of the Order and this Rules, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of the Order and this Rules or the application of such provision or part thereof to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.cralaw:red

Sec.  11. Effectivity of Rules. This Rules shall take effect on November 30, 2007.

APPROVED : 05 October 2007.