Volume 18 v Number 12 December 2014www.nwpc.dole.gov.ph

The Offi cial Newsletter of the National Wages and Productivity CommissionT

December 2014 News

Lourdes M. SecillanoJerome P. Lucas

The NWPC Bulletin is published by the Information and

Publication Division of the National Wages and Productivity

Commission. Our address is 3rd Floor Dy International Building,

No. 1011 Gen. Malvar corner San Marcelino Streets, Malate,

Manila. Tel. Nos. 5275519, 5278011 to 17; Fax No. 5275139.

For comments, suggestions, and contributions, please write to

the Editor-in-Chief or e-mail us at web.nwpc@yahoo.com. You

may also visit our website at www.nwpc.dole.gov.ph.NWPCBulletin

Editor-In-ChiefManaging Editor

Executive Director Maria Criselda R. SyDeputy Executive Director Patricia P. HornillaDeputy Executive Director Jeanette T. Damo

Director Elvira P. Jota Director Welma T. SicangcoDirector Jamie-Lyn J. Garcia

Gladys S. Gatpandan

The NWPC officers headed by Executive Director Maria

Criselda R. Sy attended the cluster specific and DOLE-

wide year end performance assessment.

Pre-YEPA cluster meetings were held in

Tagaytay (Enhanced Employability and Competitiveness

of Enterprises and Luzon Regions Cluster), in OSHC

(Strengthened Social Protection for Vulnerable Workers

and Visayas Regions) and in Surigao City (Sustained

Cooperation Between Labor and Employers and

Mindanao Regions Cluster).

NWPC offi cers attend the DOLE-YEPA

Minimum Wage Ratesas of December 29, 2014

Region’s Wage Order

Non-Agriculture

Effectivity Date

Wage Order No. NCR-18

P466.00 Oct. 4, 2013

Wage Order No. RB CAR-16

P280.00 Feb. 3, 2014

Wage Order No. RB I-16

P253.00 Feb. 05, 2014

Wage Order No. RB II-16

P255.00 Jan. 05, 2014

Wage Order No. RB III-18

P349.00 Nov. 30, 2014

Wage Order No. RB IVA-15

P362.50 May 1, 2014

Wage Order No. RB IVB-06

P275.00 Feb. 1, 2013

Wage Order No. RB V-16

P260.00 Jan. 10, 2014

Wage Order No. RBVI-21

P287.00 Nov. 29, 2013

Wage Order No. RB VII-18

P340.00 Mar. 21, 2014

Wage Order No. RB VIII-17

P260.00 Oct. 16, 2012

Wage Order No. RB IX-I8

P280.00 June 10, 2013

Wage Order No. RB X-17

P306.00 June 20, 2013

Wage Order No. RB XI-18

P312.00 June 01, 2014

Wage Order No. RB XII-18

P270.00 Aug. 1, 2014

Wage Order No. RB XIII-12

P268.00 May 21, 2013

Wage Order No. RB ARMM-15

P250.00 Feb. 1, 2014

NWPC celebrates Christmas with Excellence

With the theme

“Thank you, ang

gagaling ninyo,” the NWPC

celebrated its General

assembly cum Christmas

Party last 22 December

2014 at the NWPC

Conference Room.

Undersecretary

Reydeluz Conferido gave

the welcome remarks

stressing the relevance

of the celebration. “Ang

pinakamahalagang bagay

naman talaga ay ang

respeto at pagmamahal.

At ang magandang The purpose of these cluster meetings was to validate

and finalize the outcomes scorecard for the different programs

and to formulate the 2015 planning tool targets.

The DOLE-YEPA was held at the OSHC last December

15-16 where the Secretary approved the proposed program

directions. For NWPC, the thrusts for 2015-2016 are the full

implementation of the TTWS including assessment of its

implementation and strengthen the implementation of the

Among others, the advisory recommends the creation

of Labor and Management Committee for the purpose of

developing and implementing productivity based incentive

schemes and a set of performance criteria as basis for the grant

of productivity incentives.

The advisory was published on 15 December 2014 at

Sun Star Cebu.

Region 7 issues wage advisory... from page 2

by Jerome P. Lucas

relasyon sa Diyos ay pundasyon sa magandang relasyon sa kapwa.”

Commissioner David Diwa focused his message on the

theme of the celebration, highlighting the accomplishments of the

NWPC particularly on the two-tiered wage system, the productivity

toolbox, the reorganization of the Commission, the second phase of

the Singapore training and the heightening of Service Quality Program.

“Tunay na magagaling tayo. Tunay na magagaling kayo,” Diwa stated.

Commissioner Francisco Floro, on the other hand, rec-

ognized the unwavering service of the DOLE and NWPC

in empowering workers and sustaining enterprises.

Highlights of the program were the presentation of the

agency’s entries to the DOLE Secretary’s Best Documentary Awards

and the dance competition.

Joining the NWPC celebration were Director Ahmma

Charisma Lobrin-Satumba of BWSC and Adeline de Castro of

Planning Service.

Toolbox giving priority to enterprises with Certificates of

Compliance on General Labor Standards and Occupational

Safety and Health, those with functional LMCs facilitated by the

NCMB and DOLE livelihood beneficiaries.

The NWPC and the RTWPBs will also launch an award

and recognition system for enterprises who have adopted the

recommendation of the Advisories and those with successful

productivity improvement programs on Service Quality.

NWPC wins 3rd place in DOLE Secretary’s Best Documentary Award

The NWPC’s Munting Pangarap, an entry to the 1st DOLE

Secretary’s Best Documentary Awards was awarded as

3rd Best Documentary under the category “Impact of DOLE

Programs” at the newly inaugurated DOLE Labor Governance

Learning Center last 10 December 2014. This is part of the

celebration of the 81st anniversary of the Department.

Present during the awarding ceremonies were Secretary

Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz and OIC-Assistant Secretary

Katherine B. Brimon.

The following were declared winners for each of the

categories:

DOLE CAR also won the People’s Choice having

garnered the most number of online and manual votes. The

winners received cash prizes and certificates of recognition.

Mun! ng Pangarap pays tribute to one of the

successful benefi ciaries of the NWPC Produc! vity

Toolbox. It features the produc! vity journey of

Three Dimensional Packaging Corpora! on (TDPC)

under the leadership of its owner Ms. Jaie Ador.

TDPC was one of the regional winners of the

Produc! vity Olympics and was a benefi ciary of

the training program “Developing Philippine

Produc! vity Professionals” in Singapore.

1. Positive Transformation of Lives of DOLE Clientele

through Convergence Program category - DOLE RO 11

(1st), TESDA (2nd), and DOLE CAR (3rd); and

2. Impact of the Programs and Services to DOLE

Beneficiaries category - DOLE NCR (1st), NCMB (2nd),

and NWPC (3rd)

December 2014 News December 2014News

Bridging Pay and Productivity Growth

The National Wages and Productivity

Commission (NWPC) focused

its advocacy towards encouraging

workers and enterprises to link pay with

productivity improvement as a more

sustainable source of higher real incomes

for workers and revenue for enterprises.

The NWPC adopted the two-

tiered wage system (TTWS) to more

effectively protect the incomes of poor

and vulnerable workers and promote

worker and enterprise productivity.

This supports the overarching goals of

poverty reduction and inclusive growth.

TTWS as a Minimum Wage Reform

Since its implementation in

2012, the NWPC and its 17 Regional

Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards

have reviewed their minimum wage

structures using the TTWS framework.

This meant checking for minimum wages

lagging behind the poverty threshold and

minimum wages fast approaching the

average wage. It also strengthened the

advocacy towards productivity based

pay schemes.

The TTWS defined the space for

minimum wage fixing as slightly above

the poverty threshold but not to exceed

average wage. The poverty threshold

and average wage serve as limits or

boundaries within which genuine

minimum wage setting takes place.

Poverty threshold, as the

lower limit, is used as reference being

the official indicator for the minimum

income or expenditure required to meet

basic needs. Setting the minimum wage

above this threshold helps workers and

families meet basic needs, contributes to

poverty reduction and helps improve the

pay distribution at the lower end of the

pay scale.

Average wage, on the other

hand, as the upper limit, serves as an

indicator of the capacity of business or

employers’ capacity to pay. Beyond

this point, bipartite approaches in

establishing better terms and conditions

of employment sets in.

TTWS in Full Swing

Tier 1 or Minimum Wage

With the adoption of the TTWS,

there had been visible changes in the

country’s minimum wage structures

across regions.

The regional minimum wage

structures have been simplified to ensure

that minimum wages fall within the

space defined by the TTWS. The decline

in the number of minimum wage rates

from 130 before 2012 to 104 by end of

2014 will help facilitate administration

and enforcement.

There had been more conscious

efforts to bring all minimum wages above

the poverty threshold. Over the last three

years, the number of minimum wage

rates falling below poverty threshold

has been reduced by half from 30 to 15

minimum wage rates. All minimum wage

rates are above the poverty threshold in 8

regions while the rest of the regions are

expected to close the minimum wage-

poverty threshold gap by end of 2015.

In the implementation of this

reform, seven Wage Boards have also

decided, through consensus, not to allow

exemptions from the minimum wage.

Tier 2 or productivity based pay

The TTWS also supports another

equally important mandate of the NWPC,

which is the promotion of productivity.

Under the TTWS, the Regional Boards

issue industry-specific advisories to guide

workers and enterprises in developing

and implementing productivity based

incentive schemes over and above the

mandatory minimum wage.

To date, 14 Regional Boards

have issued advisories for workers

and enterprises engaged in specific

industries. These advisories contain an

assessment of an industry’s performance

and outlook and, on the basis of which,

recommend a percentage range of

productivity based wage increases. So

far, the industries/sectors for which

advisories have been issued by the

Boards are for tourism, transportation

and storage, manufacturing, mining,

canning (sardines), banana, plantation

for selected crops, agribusiness and

hotels and restaurants.

The Boards are currently

organizing orientations and providing

technical assistance in the form of training

and consulting to establishments who

have decided to implement productivity

incentive schemes in their workplaces.

NWPC Productivity Toolbox

In building the capacities of

enterprises, the Regional Boards use

the NWPC Productivity Toolbox, which

is a ladderized, needs-based approach

to help enterprises, particularly MSMEs,

improve their productivity performance.

It contains training modules; technical

assistance on work improvement

measurements (time and motion

studies) and facility evaluation and;

an award system that recognizes best

productivity improvement programs.

The training modules consist

of basic productivity concepts and

measurements (Productivity 101);

values-based human resource strategy

(ISTIV PAP); 5S of Good Housekeeping;

work systems (ISTIV Bayanihan);

workplace cooperation on resource

efficiency (ISTIV PLUS); productivity

and environment (Green ME); error-

free service (Service Quality); time and

motion study (TMS), among others.

As of November 30, 2014, a

total of 11,860 MSMEs has benefited

from productivity trainings/orientations

involving 26,320 workforce.

Creating Productivity Champions

and Specialists

This year, the NWPC proved its

capability to multiply productivity and

innovation advocates in the country

through a second round training

partnership with the Temasek Foundation

(TF) and Nanyang Polytechnic (NYPI) of

Singapore. This training collaboration

has expanded to include participants

from other government agencies like the

DA, DTI, DOST, and DOT and our social

partners.

Previous to this, the NWPC with

the TF and NYPI trained a total of 120

productivity advocates, 90 of whom were

from DOLE, NWPC and RTWPBs while

the remaining 30 came from the MSMEs.

This is the first in the history of

the NWPC and the DOLE to train a huge

number of 230 participants to undergo

two levels of training on basic productivity

concepts and tools and enterprise

development and innovation.

Forty one (41) staff from the central

and regional offices underwent a

Trainers Training on ILO-GBA Green ME

Module last 16-19 December 2014 in

Vigan City, Ilocos Sur.

The training was conducted

to build the necessary training and

facilitation skills of the participants for the

effective delivery of the ILO-GBA Green

ME Module.

The training consisted of four

modules: 1) Understanding Training

Perspectives; 2) Adult Learning Approach

in Training; 3) Skills Needed in Training;

5) Getting ready for the Practicum. As

practicum, the participants did a mock

training, applying basic facilitation and

training skills and principles.

In her closing remarks, Executive

Director Maria Criselda R. Sy highlighted

two important points: 1) the need to

conduct the training and 2) the relevance

of the training to the thrust and mandate

of DOLE and NWPC.

“Hindi ko kayo isasabak sa

giyera nang walang bala,” she stressed.

She added that the training was intended

to professionalize the central office and

regional staff in the effective delivery

of training programs to workers and

owners of MSMEs.

Ms. Niña Estudillo was the the

trainer/facilitator of the training program.

NWPC, RTWPB prepare to roll out

ILO-GBA Green ME Module

As part of the weeklong celebration

of the 81st DOLE Anniversary,

RTWPB II launched the 2015

Productivity Olympics last December 5,

2014 at Villa Blanca Hotel, Tugeugarao

City.

Present during the launching

were about 20 MSME beneficiaries of

the NWPC productivity toolbox who

were encouraged by RTWPB II Board

Secretary Loreta R. Aquino to join the

2015 Productivity Olympics.

Members of the press and the

Philippine Information Agency covered

the PO launching.

The Productivity Olympics is a

biennial nationwide competition which

started in 2008 to recognize the best

productivity improvement programs

(PIPs) of micro, small and medium

enterprises (MSMEs).

RTWPB II launches the 2015 Productivity Olympics

Bridging Pay... from page 2

turn to page 3

Consistent with the government’s goal

of strengthening the link between

pay and productivity, RTWPB VII issued

its wage advisory on the implementation

of productivity-based incentives schemes

for the hotel, resort, and restaurant

industries.

The sector’s economic growth

and employment potential were the

primary considerations of the board in

selecting the industry as subject of its first

advisory.

Region 7 issues Wage Advisory

for Tourism Industry

turn to page 4

by Jerome P. Lucas

by Maria Viviera R. Magno