SECTION 1. Regional Minimum Wages. — The minimum wage rates for agricultural and non-agricultural workers and employees in every region shall be those prescribed by the Boards which shall in no case be lower than the statutory minimum wage rates. These wage rates may include wages by industry, province or locality as may be deemed necessary by the Boards.
SECTION 2. Standards/Criteria for Minimum Wage Fixing. — The regional minimum wages to be established by the Boards shall be as nearly adequate as is economically feasible to maintain the minimum standards of living necessary for the health, efficiency and general well-being of the workers within the framework of the national economic and social development programs. In the determination of regional minimum wages, the Boards, shall, among other relevant factors, consider the following:
a) The demand for living wages;
b) Wage adjustment vis-a-vis the consumer price index;
c) The cost of living and changes or increases therein;
d) The needs of workers and their families;
e) The need to induce industries to invest in countryside;
f) Improvements in standards of living;
g) The prevailing wage levels;
h) Fair return of the capital invested and capacity to pay of employers;
i) Effects on employment generation and family income; and
j) The equitable distribution of income and wealth along the imperatives of economic and social development.
SECTION 3. Wage Order. — Whenever conditions in the region so warrant, the Board shall investigate and study all pertinent facts; and, based on standards and criteria prescribed herein, shall determine whether a Wage Order should be issued.
In the performance of its wage determining functions, the Board shall conduct public hearings and consultations giving notices to employees' and employers' groups, provincial, city and municipal officials and other interested parties.
SECTION 4. Effectivity of Wage Order. — Any Wage Order issued by the Board shall take effect 15 days after its complete publication in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the region.
SECTION 5. Appeal to the Commission. — Any party aggrieved by the Wage Order issued by the Board may file an appeal with the Commission within ten calendar days from the publication of the Order. The Commission shall decide the appeal within sixty calendar days from the date of filing.
SECTION 6. Effect of Appeal. — The filing of the appeal shall not suspend the effectivity of the Wage Order unless the person appealing such order files with the Commission an undertaking with a surety or sureties in such amount as may be fixed by the Commission.
SECTION 7. Wage Distortions. — Where the application of any wage increase resulting from a Wage Order issued by any Board results in distortions in the wage structure within an establishment, the employer and the union shall negotiate to correct the distortions using the grievance procedure under their collective bargaining agreement. If it remains unresolved, it shall be decided through voluntary arbitration ten calendar days from the time the dispute was referred for voluntary arbitration, unless otherwise agreed by the parties in writing.
Where there are no collective agreements or recognized labor unions, the employer and workers shall endeavor to correct the wage distortion. Any dispute arising therefrom shall be settled through the National Conciliation and Mediation Board and if it remains unresolved after ten calendar days of conciliation, it shall be referred to the appropriate branch of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC). The NLRC shall conduct continuous hearings and decide the dispute within twenty calendar days from the time said dispute is submitted for compulsory arbitration.
The pendency of a dispute arising from a wage distortion shall not in any way delay the applicability of any wage increase prescribed pursuant to the provisions of law or Wage Order.
SECTION 8. Non-Diminution of Benefits. — Nothing in the Act and in these Rules shall be construed to reduce any existing laws, decrees, issuances, executive orders, and/or under any contract or agreement between the workers and employers.
SECTION 9. 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 Commission or Boards.
SECTION 10. Penal Provisions. — Any person, corporation trust, firm, partnership, association or entity which refuses or fails to pay any of the prescribed increases or adjustments in the wage rates made in accordance with the Act shall be punished by a fine not exceeding P25,000 and/or imprisonment of not less than one year nor more than two years: Provided, that any person convicted under the Act shall not be entitled to the benefits provided for under the Probation Law.
If the violation is committed by a corporation, trust or firm, partnership, association or any other 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.
SECTION 11. Registration/Reporting Requirement. — Any person, company, corporation, partnership or any other entity engaged in business shall submit annually a verified itemized listing of their labor component to the appropriate Board and the National Statistics Office not later than January 31 of each year, starting on January 31, 1990 in accordance with the form to be prescribed by the Commission. The listing shall specify the names, salaries and wages of their workers and employees below the managerial level including learners, apprentices and disabled/handicapped workers.
