The proposed P100 minimum wage hike in the private sector might “create difficulties” for businesses, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said.
Citing data from the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), Laguesma said the proposed wage hike will result in an additional 15 to 25 percent increase in each employee’s salary, excluding wage-related benefits,
Laguesma said in an interview on Dobol B TV, further said: “It’s somewhat sizable. Because out of more or less one million registered existing businesses in the country, more than 900,000 are in the category of micro, small, and medium enterprises.”
However, Laguesma said it would be “contentious” to say that businesses will not be able to sustain the P100 increase.
The official further said the DOLE needs to look at how to preserve employment, as well as to continue to create additional jobs to sustain the employment level.
“If we see that there are more jobs than those who are looking for jobs, what we call market forces can come into play,” Laguesma, quoted by reports, added.
“If a business wants to attract workers, it has to go along with the benefits workers are looking for and will be provided for them. Those are the factors that should be considered.”
Laguesma also said that small businesses needed to be helped following the COVID-19 pandemic. He added that DOLE’s task, particularly through the NWPC, was to provide technical inputs, but a law on labor would be up to Congress.
The bill seeking an additional P100 in the daily minimum wage of workers in the private sector reached the Senate plenary earlier this week.