BACOLOD City – The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) is set to deliberate three proposals on the wage increase of domestic workers, or kasambahays, in Western Visayas.
Labor representative to the RTWPB Wennie Sancho said the last two deliberations will be conducted before March 15, to be led by Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) regional director Cyril Ticao.
Domestic workers in Region 6 currently receive a monthly salary of P3,500, based on the wage order that the RTWPB issued in December 2017.
In a public hearing held yesterday at the DOLE provincial office in this city, three proposals were raised.
The first one suggests the current kasambahay salary rate be retained. The second and third proposals recommend increasing the rate by P500 and P1,000 for every month of service, respectively.
On Feb. 26, the first public hearing on the wage hike was conducted in Iloilo City.
According to Sancho, some employers said they can no longer afford to pay their kasambahays a higher salary than the current.
Some employers also said their expenses have gone up since the country’s inflation rate hit a nine-year high of 6.7 percent in September 2018.
A kasambahay refers to “any person engaged in domestic work within an employment relationship such as, but not limited to, the following: general househelp, nursemaid or yaya, cook, gardener, or laundry person, but shall exclude any person who performs domestic work only occasionally or sporadically and not on an occupational basis,” according to Republic Act (RA) 10361, or the Domestic Workers Act.
During the recent hearings, Sancho said they found that some provisions of RA 10361 have not been implemented in the region.
He particularly cited the installation of kasambahay desks in every barangay. These desks are meant to keep track on the registration of domestic helpers through a master list, according to the law’s Implementing Rules and Regulations.
In 2016, the number of domestic helpers in Western Visayas reached 116,532./PN
