EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 614
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 614 - CREATING
A NATIONAL WAGES COUNCIL
WHEREAS, there is growing awareness
on the part of labor, management and government that wage determination
and wage fixing is a vital integral component of a national wage and
income policy;
WHEREAS, experience and policy now make it evident that the highly
complex and technical process of wage determination and wage fixing
should be carried out on a continuous basis in accordance with the
imperatives of social and economic development;
WHEREAS, it is necessary to strengthen the capability and competence of
the Wage Commission by creating a new tripartite agency of government
in which the foregoing process can be institutionalized;
WHEREAS, under Presidential Decree 1416, the President is empowered to
undertake such organizational and related improvements as may be
appropriate in the light of changing circumstances and new
developments;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Republic of
the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the
Constitution, and the authority vested in me by Presidential Decree No.
1416, do hereby order and ordain:
ARTICLE 1. There is hereby created a NATIONAL WAGES
COUNCIL attached to the Office of the President hereinafter referred to
as Council.
ARTICLE 2. The Council shall have the following
functions:
a)
To act as the national consultative and advisory body to the
President/Prime Minister of the Philippines on matters relating to
wages.
b) To act as
the wage-determining body to recommend to the President/Prime Minister
of the Philippines the issuance of wage orders establishing the
national, regional, or industry minimum wages to be paid by employers.
c) To conduct
a continuing study of wage rates in various agricultural and
non-agricultural industries all over the country for the purpose of
ascertaining whether these are adequate to ensure a decent living wage
for the workers and their families and the continued viability of
business and industry.
d) To collect
and/or compile, analyze and periodically disseminate information, as a
continuing activity essential to the effective exercise of its
wage-determining function, including but not limited to employment,
wages, hours and other conditions of work by locality, industry and
occupation, wage practices, cost-of-living, family incomes and
expenditures, production costs, labor productivity, investments and
returns and such other general economic indicators and non-economic
data necessary for the accomplishment of its functions.
e) To receive,
process and act on applications for exemption from statutory wage and
allowance increases and other benefits granted to workers, from
individual firms and/or industries on the ground of actual or potential
loss.
ARTICLE 3. The minimum wage, whether national,
regional or industry wage, to be established and recommended by the
Council 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 employees within the framework
of the national economic and social development program. In the
determination of a minimum wage, the Council shall consider among other
things, the following:
a)
the needs of workers and their families
b) the general
level of wages in the country
c) The
cost-of-living and changes therein
d) fair return
of investments
e) the
viability of the industry
f) social
security benefits
g) economic
factors, including the requirements of economic development, levels of
productivity and the desirability of attaining and maintaining a high
level of employment.
ARTICLE 4. In conducting a continuing study of wage
rates and other economic conditions in any industry or branch thereof,
the Council may call the assistance of industry, trade and agricultural
chambers or associations, trade union centers, school of economics,
consumers’ groups, government and private agencies and other parties to
furnish information in aid of its objectives.
ARTICLE 5. No wage order issued on recommendation by
the Council shall be construed to prevent workers in particular firms,
enterprises or industries from bargaining for higher wages with their
respective employers.
ARTICLE 6. No injunction may be issued by any court
to restrain any proceeding of or before the Council.
ARTICLE 7. The Council shall be composed of the
Minister of Labor and Employment as Chairman, the Minister of Economic
Planning as Vice-Chairman, and the Minister of Industry, Minister of
Agriculture, Minister of Finance, Minister of Trade, the Governor of
the Central Bank, the Executive Director of the Council and two (2)
representatives each workers and employers who shall be appointed by
the President upon recommendation of the Minister of Labor and
Employment and each of whom shall serve for a term of three years, as
members. The Government representatives in the Council may designate
their deputies in case they cannot attend the meeting of the
Council.
ARTICLE 8. The Council shall have a Secretariat
headed by an Executive Director who shall be assisted by a Deputy
Director, both of whom shall be career administrators appointed by the
President of the Philippines on recommendation of the Minister of Labor
and Employment. The Secretariat shall be under the administrative
supervision of the Minister of Labor and Employment, as Chairman of the
Council.
ARTICLE 9. The Executive Director is hereby
authorized to organize such units and inter-agency committees and
appoint the personnel as may be necessary, subject to pertinent
organization and compensation law and the confirmation of the Council.
ARTICLE 10. The Council shall determine the
qualification of the Executive Director, the Deputy Director and the
technical and clerical personnel consistent with the existing rules and
regulations of the Civil Service Commission.
ARTICLE 11. The Wage Commission in the Ministry of
Labor is hereby abolished and all its personnel, equipment, records and
appropriation for the current year (1980) and the coming year (1991)
shall be transferred to the Council. There shall be no diminution of
salary and rank of the present officials and employees of the Wage
Commission. The incumbent Chairman and Commissioner of the Wage
Commission shall be the first Executive Director and Deputy Director of
the Council, respectively.
ARTICLE 12. The Council is hereby authorized to issue
appropriate rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this
Order.
ARTICLE 13. This Decree shall take effect immediately.
Done in the city of Manila,
Republic of the Philippines, this 18th day of August, in the year of
Our Lord, nineteen hundred and eighty.
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Since 19.07.98.