Most Calabarzon workers getting productivity-based pay

MANILA, Philippines - Most workers in the Calabarzon region are now getting merit increase and other productivity pay, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).    

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said 88 percent of commercial establishments in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) are complying with the new wage order providing productivity pay for minimum wage earners in the region.

Citing a report from the regional wage board, Baldoz said a total of 132,704 workers are now receiving additional pay based on their performance or productivity provided through existing performance-based pay (PBP) schemes such as volume targets, merit increase, and one salary-one rank scheme, on top of the mandated minimum wage.     

Zenaida Angara-Campita, who chairs the Calabarzon wage board, said the PBP is usually computed daily and given to workers at the end of each month.

Campita said the DOLE regional office and the wage board continue to provide technical assistance to companies setting up PBP schemes.

She said her office has issued certificates of compliance to 365 companies as proof of their implementation of the productivity-based pay under Wage Order No. IVA-15.

A survey conducted by the wage board, according to Campita, showed that 46 percent of companies in the region have created a productivity improvement and incentives committee or an equivalent body, while 248 others, or 68 percent, have set up productivity improvement programs.

The wage board previously issued Wage Order No. IV-A that made the region the first to mandate the two-tiered wage system.

The two-tiered wage system consists of a fixed “floor wage,” or entry-level wage, for new entrants and low-skilled workers, and a flexible wage above the floor based on worker productivity and industry or enterprise performance which may be negotiated between the employer and workers.

The floor wage in Calabarzon is pegged at P255 with a conditional temporary productivity allowance of P12.50 for workers receiving more than P255.

The floor wage of P255 under the first tier requires an additional amount of P2 to P90 per day over the minimum wage level that is currently below P255.

Baldoz urged other regions to fast-track their implementation of the two-tier wage system.