DOLE now drafting rules of work from home law

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Tuesday said it is in the process of fine-tuning the details of the Telecommuting Law which gives private-sector employees the privilege to work from outside the office.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the department is now in the process of drafting the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the law.

ôWe are still in the process of drafting the IRR on Law on Telecommuting,” Bello told GMA News Online.

Duterte enacted Republic Act 11165 or The Telecommuting Act last December, enabling a work arrangement that allows an employee in the private sector the choice to work from an alternative workplace with the use of telecommunication or computer technologies.

“We have 60 days but we may come up with the IRR ahead of schedule,” said Bello.

Telecommuting remains as the prerogative of the employer, based on a mutual agreement with the employee. This includes compensable work hours, the minimum number of work hours, overtime, rest days, and entitlement to leave benefits.

Under the law, all telecommuting employees will enjoy the following arrangement:

• Receive a rate of pay, including overtime and night shift differential, and other similar monetary benefits not lower than those provided in applicable laws, and collective bargaining agreements

• Right to rest periods, regular holidays, and special non-working days

• Equivalent workload and performance standards as those of comparable workers at the employer’s premises

• Same access to training and career development opportunities as those of comparable workers at the employer’s premises, and be subject to the same appraisal policies covering these workers

• Receive appropriate training on the technical equipment at their disposal, and the characteristics and conditions of telecommuting

• Same collective rights as the workers at the employer’s premises, and shall not be barred from communicating with workers’ representatives

“In all cases, the employer shall provide the telecommuting employee with relevant written information in order to adequately apprise the individual of the terms and conditions of the telecommuting program and the responsibilities of the employee,” the law stated. —VDS, GMA News