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House panel OKs bill seeking protection for freelancers


The House Committee on Ways and Means has approved the measure seeking to provide legal and contractual protections to freelancers or self-employed individuals.

During its meeting on Monday, the panel approved the tax provisions of the substitute measure to six bills seeking to protect freelancers, after the measure hurdled the House Committee on Labor and Employment.

In pushing for the measure, Pangasinan Representative Christopher De Venecia, one of the bill's authors, explained that freelancers "have been overlooked by the state when it comes to policy."

He said that since freelancers work without a written contract between them and their clients, they are vulnerable to unscrupulous clients who will either change the terms of payment or evade it altogether.

De Venecia added that freelancers do not have the means to afford the services of a lawyer to advise them of their rights, and since they do not have an employment contract, it is difficult for them to prove their case if ever they decide to file one.

"The bill makes it mandatory to have a written contract when engaging the services of a freelancers. Very important, responsible companies are able to provide contracts with the freelancers," De Venecia said.

"It likewise provides for civil penalties for violation of the act... and provide special lanes to help make the process simpler and faster," he added.

Committee chair Joey Salceda, who is also an author of the measure, stressed the importance of protecting freelancers as the economy becomes more digital.

“Freelancing will be the natural consequence of the shift towards working from home. We have to protect workers in this sector now, while the potential problems are still on a scale we can solve,” he said.

Under the measure, protections given to freelancers include:

  • A framework for contracts between employers and freelancers;
  • Eligibility for night shift differential for freelancers who are required to be physically present in the workplace or those on field assignments; and
  • Hazard pay for freelancers deployed in dangerous areas

The measure also makes it unlawful to:

  • Pay the compensation due the freelancer later than 15 days after the date of payment of compensation stated in the written contract or after the rendition of services in cases where there is no written contract;
  • Require as a condition of payment of compensation, at any time after a freelancer has commenced rendition of services, that a freelancer accept less than the specified contract price; and
  • Retaliate against a freelancer under certain conditions

The bill also mandates all freelancers to pay their income taxes annually, with a lane or a special assistance desk dedicated to them in every revenue district office of the Bureau of Internal Revenue to assist them in their application, registration, processing of documents and other inquiries. —KBK, GMA News

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