2 M household helpers to benefit from ‘Kasambahay’ bill
An estimated two million household helpers nationwide stand to benefit when the Kasambahay Bill becomes law, a lawmaker said yesterday.
San Juan Rep. JV Ejercito, the bill’s principal author, said House Bill 6144 seeks to protect kasambahays (household help) against abusive employers.
“Of course, we encourage employers to pay their help more,” he said. “The bill just sets the minimum wage. Employers are also mandated to provide their kasambahays with SSS (Social Security System), PhilHealth, and other benefits.”
The Kasambahay Bill was approved at the House of Representatives last September and a counterpart bill passed the Senate shortly thereafter.
Ejercito said under the bill’s House version, employers would be required to give helpers at least eight hours of rest every day and a day off once a week.
“Just recently, a maid lost the sight of an eye when her employer hit her in the face with a flat iron,” he said.
“I and my fellow legislators in both chambers seek to prevent this kind of inhumane acts.
“More than the economic benefits, the measure also seeks to give dignity to this vulnerable sector of society.”
Ejercito said the great majority of household helpers are young women with very little formal education.
Poverty drove them to engage in menial work with low salaries, he added.
A bicameral conference will reconcile the bill’s two versions before it goes to President Aquino for signing into law.
Under the two versions, a household help would get a minimum wage of P3,000 in Metro Manila and P2,500 in chartered cities. – Paolo Romero