SOME countries hosting Filipino domestic workers have raised reservations over raising their minimum wage rate from US$400 to US$500.
The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said their counterparts have reacted to Advisory No. 25-2025, which in effect called for the wage increase.
“There were concerns raised. I won’t mention which countries did so, but there were,” said Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac in an online interview on Friday.
He did not identify the countries to avoid putting them “on the spot.”
Cacdac said they will evaluate the concerns raised as they draft the guidelines for the implementation of the new policy and release these next month.
“We have to take into consideration the nuances or situations in the countries where we have OFWs,” said Cacdac.
“We will move ahead in terms of crafting the guidelines until about the second or third week of October,” he added.
In its Advisory No. 25-2025, the DMW said the minimum monthly wage of domestic workers is being increased from US$400 to US$500.
Last week, Cacdac clarified that the new wage policy shall be implemented only voluntarily, as they will not force any employers to raise the salaries of domestic workers to the minimum of US$500.
He said there will be no penalties awaiting foreign employers who will opt not to give a US$500 salary to Pinay domestic workers.
“In contrast to a negative- or punitive- or penalty-based approach, we will approach it in a positive way,” said Cacdac in an earlier statement.
“We are considering giving incentives to those who will voluntarily pay their household service workers US$500.
For example, as an incentive, we can assure would-be employers of faster processes so that the domestic workers they are hiring can start work with them right away,” Cacdac has said.
