Employers capable of giving electricity incentives to work-from-home employees —Tolentino

Senator Francis Tolentino believes companies are capable of providing incentives to their employees who are working from home to help ease their burden in paying their electric bills since they started performing their jobs out of the office.

Tolentino made the remark on Sunday after he proposed that employees give electricity allowance to their employees who are on work-from-home status. 

Under his proposal, employees who are working from home should be entitled to a P1,000 tax deduction for every month that they are working from home, which could be a deductible expense in the taxable income of these workers.

Alternatively, employers may give their employees a P1,000 electricity allowance per month.

"Kakayanin [ng company ito]. Kasi hindi lang naman ganu'n ang nauubos niya sa pagbabayad ng electric bills niya e. Hindi lang naman P1,000 siguro ang bayad. At 'yun naman ay deductable din as a business expense. 'Yun, mababawas doon sa buwis na babayaran naman ng kompanya," Tolentino said in a Dobol B sa News TV interview.

"So ang end result nito ay 'yung empleyado ay may karagdagang pera sa bulsa at magagamit din sa ekonomiya at makakadagdag din sa bayad sa kanyang kuryente. Kesa naman maputulan siya ng kuryente," he added.

While Tolentino proposed that a P1,000 tax deduction per month may be given to employees working from home, there is another formula that could be considered in providing this tax incentive.

"Meron akong dinevise na isang formula, 'yung gawin na lang itong P25 per hour [ang ide-deduct na tax] kasi pinattern ko ito sa formula ng Australia. Ang Australia ngayon nagpapatupad ng AU$50 per hour doon nagwo-work from home. E kinompute ko 'yung AU$50 parang pumapatak ng P17 sa pera natin," he said.

"So kung P17, lumalabas na P136 kung eight hours ka nag-work from home. Pero hindi naman siguro eight hours ka nagwo-work from home, baka apat na oras lang 'yan," he added.

Tolentino said the employee must only declare under oath that he or she only worked for this number of hours to determine how much will be deducted from his or her income tax.

The senator said there should be penalties on the part of the employees if they fail to give incentives to their work-from-home employees.

"Dapat meron 'yun. Kasi ang laki nu'ng nagiging katipiran niya," he said.

Tolentino is intending to file the measure containing his proposal on Monday.

Last March, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) called on employers to adopt flexible arrangements for their workers in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The DOLE last June said employers should shoulder or reimburse the additional expenses incurred by workers during work from home arrangements.

The Employers Confederation of the Philippines reacted and said most employers implemented the work from home arrangement to avoid retrenchment of workers amid the COVID-19 crisis.

ECOP president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said work-from-home arrangements, in the first place, was not compulsory and should not be forced on small businesses. —Erwin Colcol/KG, GMA News