The Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) on Friday said workers who have already received their salaries prior to the suspension of the wage hike remain entitled to the full amount that they were given.
Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino made the clarification in an ambush interview with reporters, a day after a Pasig City court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the implementation of the P85 wage hike in Metro Manila following a petition from two construction companies.
When asked what would happen to employers who have already released salaries with the corresponding wage hike, Tolentino said ‘workers have their vested rights. So, it should not be returned.’
‘Especially today, which is payday. So, it should not be returned because at the time it was prepared and at the time it was received, the National Wages and Productivity Commission had not yet issued an order of suspension,’ he explained.
On July 30, the Pasig City Regional Trial Court Branch 152 issued a TRO on the implementation of NCR Wage Order No. 27 that mandated the P85 daily minimum wage increase in the National Capital Region, which will remain effective until Aug. 13.
The court had granted the petition filed by presidents of Readycon Trading and Construction Corp. and R-II Builders Inc., who sought to halt the implementation of the wage hike while their request for a declaratory relief remains pending.
A declaratory relief is a special civil action filed by a person affected by a government regulation, with the goal of seeking an authoritative statement defining his or her rights and obligations under the given statute, order or ordinance.
A hearing on the case has been scheduled on Aug. 3.
In their petition, the heads of the two companies argued that the wage order was determined ‘without adequate regard to compounding economic conditions,’ including the recent oil price hikes that resulted from the conflict in the Middle East.
Because of current economic conditions, both companies said it has suffered from various challenges such as ‘measurable operating losses,’ ‘diminished margins,’ ‘elevated input costs,’ ‘subdued consumer demand’ and ‘tightened credit conditions.’
They said the wage order will further heighten their companies’ expenses, noting that their labor costs have already been increasing even before the implementation of the wage hike