WFH conditions should comply with labor standards, DOLE says

Employees in work-from-home arrangements should be given the same terms and conditions mandated by the labor standards in the country, based on the revised implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Telecommuting Act.

According to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the revised IRR—under Department Order 237—was approved and signed by Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma last Friday, September 16.

The revised IRR is in line with the scheduled review of the IRR or Republic Act 11165 which was signed into law by then-President Rodrigo Duterte in January 2019.

“[T]erms and conditions of telecommuting shall not be less than minimum labor standards, and shall not in any way diminish or impair the terms and conditions of employment contained in any applicable company policy or practice, individual contract, or collective bargaining agreement,” the new rules stated.

Under the Telecommuting Act, workers were given the option to report from an alternative workplace with the use of telecommuting or computer technologies.

The new rules define alternative workplaces as any location where work is performed at a location away from the principal’s place of business of the employer through the use of telecommunication and/or technology.

This includes the employee’s residence, co-working spaces, or other spaces which provide for mobile working, among others.

“These revised rules clarify and adequately address issues and concerns of the telecommuting sector,” Laguesma said in an emailed statement.

“This aims to sustain our efforts for economic recovery,” he added.

The revised rules also state that employees under given the telecommuting option are not considered field personnel, except when their actual hours of work are not determinable within reasonable capacity.

“All time that an employee is required to be on duty, and all time that an employee is permitted or suffered to work in the alternative workplace shall be counted as hours worked,” it stated.

Just last week the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) extended the work-from-home arrangement for information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) firms registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) until December 2022.

For its part, the Department of Finance (DOF) has maintained that IT-BPM firms within economic zones should operate on an on-site basis to be able to continue enjoying their tax perks.

With the extension of the remote work arrangement, however, the DOF said firms registered with PEZA could simply shift their registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) and continue to enjoy the tax incentives.

The Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP)  has long been pushing for a gradual transition from remote work to on-site arrangements. — BM, GMA News