Kasambahay salary increase letter: a template for families

Direct answer: A kasambahay salary increase letter records the old monthly basic wage, new wage and date the change takes effect. Copy the template below, complete the pay-period details with your kasambahay and keep a copy alongside the existing employment contract.

This is a practical household template, not an official DOLE form or a substitute for checking a wage order. It suits a family recording an agreed raise or documenting a required minimum-wage adjustment. It does not decide a disputed wage, calculate arrears or certify that a household has met every employment obligation.

If you are hiring rather than adjusting an existing wage, start with the kasambahay contract template. Compare the duties and budget before you browse helpers, so the offer describes the job you actually need filled.

Check the wage before writing the letter

Use the region where the household work is performed. A candidate's home province is not the place to look up the wage floor for a job in your house. Keep the official source open while you fill in the letter rather than copying a number from an old advertisement.

For a timely example, the NWPC CALABARZON announcement confirms that the domestic-worker minimum rose from ₱6,750 to ₱7,500 a month on 26 October 2026. Its regional table covers Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon. The same website has a separate daily-wage table for private-sector workers. Use the domestic-worker monthly table for this check.

The current rate and effective date belong together. Saving a page that says only "₱7,500" leaves the next person doing payroll to guess when you changed the amount. Record the source title, access date and the effective date in your private payroll notes. You do not need to reproduce the whole wage order in the letter.

Outside CALABARZON, use the regional minimum-wage guide to find your region and follow its official source. Do not apply the CALABARZON example to a household in Metro Manila or Cebu. If the place of work changes, check the applicable regional order again before agreeing the new terms.

Copy this salary increase letter

Replace every square-bracket field before printing or sharing. Choose a subject line that describes what you are recording. Do not call a mandatory adjustment a discretionary reward in the household record.

Date of this record: [day month year]
Subject: Monthly basic wage adjustment

Employer: [full name]
Kasambahay: [full name]
Household workplace: [city or municipality, province]
Existing employment contract dated: [day month year]

We record the following change to the monthly basic wage:

Previous monthly basic wage: PHP [amount]
New monthly basic wage: PHP [amount]
Effective date of the new wage: [day month year]
Reason recorded: [applicable wage order / agreed salary increase]
First payroll period affected: [start date to end date]
Payment date for that period: [day month year]

The amount above is the monthly basic wage before lawful employee
contribution deductions. Each deduction and the amount paid will be
shown separately on the payslip.

This record concerns the wage change. Other existing employment
terms remain as agreed, subject to applicable law. Any separate
change to duties, working arrangements or benefits will be discussed
and recorded separately.

Employer signature and date: ___________________________
Kasambahay signature and date: _________________________

A copy of this completed record is provided to each person.

The signature lines are a useful way to record that both people have seen the details. Do not delay a required wage adjustment while waiting for a signature. If there is a disagreement about the amount or effective date, keep the disputed point visible and ask the appropriate regional authority to clarify it.

Avoid putting government membership numbers, copies of identity documents or bank details in this letter. It can refer to the employment contract without copying every personal field from that contract. Keep payment instructions in the private place where your household already stores them.

Complete the fields so another person can run payroll

A letter can look finished while leaving the actual payday unresolved. Read it as if another adult in the household had to make the payment while you were away. They should be able to identify the rate, the relevant period and the person who checks the computation.

This table is an editorial checklist, not a list of extra statutory fields. Under Section 11 of RA 10361, the written employment contract includes compensation and authorised deductions. Keep the pay-change record beside that contract so you can read the terms together.

If you are also changing the job, make that a separate conversation. A raise does not tell a candidate whether childcare has been added to a cleaning role. Write the proposed duties and let the worker consider them before treating the new workload as agreed. The hiring guide helps a family describe those terms before service begins.

Walk through the first affected payday

Suppose a Laguna household has been recording a monthly basic wage of ₱6,750 and is updating its records to the ₱7,500 floor effective 26 October 2026. The difference between the two monthly rates is ₱750. That arithmetic identifies the rate change; it is not, by itself, the amount to add to a particular October payslip.

Write down the actual payroll period before doing a partial-period calculation. A payment on 30 October might cover a different period from a payment on 15 November. Copying the payment date into the effective-date field can hide that distinction and make the next month's record harder to reconcile.

Keep the old and new rates in the working, identify the date the new rate begins, and ask the regional board or DOLE for clarification where the treatment is uncertain. This guide does not supply a universal divisor for a mid-month wage change. Do not invent one simply because a spreadsheet needs an entry.

For the first complete month entirely after the change, use the new monthly basic wage as the starting rate. Then work through any applicable, lawful adjustments using the actual employment and contribution records. Keep the basic wage, employee deductions and amount paid as separate lines rather than replacing the whole calculation with one take-home figure.

Before payment, explain the figures in a language both of you understand. Ask the kasambahay to compare the new rate and effective date with their copy of the letter. Correct a typo before it becomes the number copied into every later payslip.

Update the payslip and contribution working separately

A pay letter and a payslip have different jobs. The letter records the change in terms. The payslip records the amount paid for a pay period and the deductions made. Use the BK-2 payslip guide for a reusable payment record.

Section 26 of RA 10361 requires the worker to receive a payslip copy on payday and requires the employer to keep copies for three years. The DOLE implementing rules include Form BK-2. Keep the completed pay-change letter with those records so a later reader can explain why the basic-wage line changed.

Review contributions using the current agency schedules. The SSS household-employer page sets out the employer's reporting and remittance responsibilities. A higher basic wage can require a different contribution calculation; the letter should not promise a specific take-home increase before you have checked the relevant schedules.

Do not move the employer's own contribution share into the employee-deduction column to make the household budget balance. Keep a separate household-cost working. Our SSS contribution guide provides context, but the official schedule and your actual payroll details are the inputs to verify.

If you use a spreadsheet, update the rate in the place that feeds future periods. Check the next draft payslip as well as the current one. A manually corrected October slip is easy to miss when November still pulls the old value from a separate cell.

Keep a short household handover record

You do not need a new payroll system to remember a raise. Keep the signed letter, the applicable source and the payroll working in one private folder. Use filenames that include the effective date so two letters with the same title are distinguishable.

For example, "wage-change-2026-10-26" is easier to match with an October payslip than "new salary final." Keep the superseded document as history rather than overwriting it with a new number. The point is to explain past payments as well as prepare future ones.

Use this handover checklist for the first payday after a change:

• The worker has their own copy of the completed letter.
• The old and new monthly rates are recorded without a net-pay assumption.
• The effective date and payroll period are separate fields.
• The first affected computation has been checked by the adult responsible for payment.
• Current contribution assumptions have been reviewed separately.
• The next payroll draft starts from the new rate.
• The payslip records the actual payment and deductions.

Keep the documents private. Do not post a completed letter in a neighbourhood hiring group as an example. Share the blank template instead. If another household adult needs access for payroll, give them the relevant record rather than sending the worker's entire document folder.

Discuss an agreed raise without hiding a job change

A discretionary salary discussion can begin with the existing role and the worker's expectations. Ask which part of the arrangement needs review. It might be the basic wage, a changed schedule, a longer journey or duties that have grown since the original contract. Write down the issue before deciding the amount.

Use the letter only once the new basic wage and effective date are clear. "We will increase it after the holidays" is not a usable payroll instruction. Name the date and amount, and distinguish anything still being discussed from what has been settled.

If the family cannot agree on a requested discretionary raise, do not record an agreement that has not happened. A proposed amount can remain a proposal while you discuss it. A required minimum-wage adjustment is a separate compliance issue and should not be presented as something that depends on accepting extra duties.

For a new hire, put the full offer in the employment contract before service starts rather than using a salary-increase letter for a person who has no existing wage with you. Browse profiles, discuss the actual work and prepare a written offer that the applicant can review.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should a kasambahay salary increase letter contain?

Record both names, the previous and new monthly basic wages, the effective date and first affected pay period. Give each person a copy and keep it with the employment contract. The sample is an editable household record, not an official DOLE form.

Can a salary increase letter replace the employment contract?

Use it alongside the existing contract. RA 10361 requires a written employment contract before service starts. A short pay letter should not silently rewrite duties, rest arrangements or other agreed terms.

What is the CALABARZON kasambahay minimum wage from 26 October 2026?

NWPC lists ₱7,500 a month for domestic workers throughout CALABARZON from that date, up from ₱6,750. Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon are covered. Check the domestic-worker monthly table, not the separate daily rates for establishments.

Should the letter show gross salary or take-home pay?

State the monthly basic wage before lawful employee deductions. Itemise the deductions and amount paid on the payslip. Check contribution schedules separately before describing the change in take-home pay.

What if the new wage takes effect during a pay period?

Record the effective date exactly and retain the old and new rates in the payroll working. Ask the regional board or DOLE about an uncertain calculation. This template does not prescribe a universal daily divisor for a partial month.

Prepare the offer and the paperwork together

A family hiring now can start with the regional wage guide, write the full terms in the contract template, and use the payslip template for payday. Keep this letter for a later change rather than making it do all three jobs.

When the household can explain the duties, wage and payment dates, create a family account and browse helpers to discuss the actual offer with candidates. Do not promise a particular take-home amount, availability or placement date before you have checked the details with the person you want to hire.