Work from home law now in place — DOLE

By: Neil Arwin Mercado, INQUIRER.net, Apr 11, 2019

MANILA, Philippines — Private sector employees can now opt to work outside their workplace using telecommunications and computer technologies, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Thursday.

DOLE made the announcement following the release of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the ‘Telecommuting Act’ also known as “Work-from-Home Law,” which allows employees to work in an agreed “alternative workplace” and submit their deliverables through a “telecommuting program.”

“Based on the IRR, an employer in the private sector may offer a telecommuting program to its employees on a voluntary basis or as a result of collective bargaining,” DOLE said in a statement.

The labor department added that it is the employer’s decision if this type of work arrangement is applicable based on the nature of the job.

The employer and employee also have to create a mutually agreed policy or telecommuting agreement which details “the applicable code of conduct and performance evaluation and assessment; appropriate alternative workplace; use and cost of equipment; observance of data privacy, and occupational safety and health, among others.”

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, meanwhile, said that this form of work agreement follows existing labor laws in the country.“The work arrangement shall include compensable work hours, a minimum number of work hours, overtime, rest days, entitlement to leave benefits, social welfare benefits, and security of tenure,” Bello said.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed the law on December 20, institutionalizing “telecommuting as an alternative work arrangement for employees in the private sector.”

Bello signed the law’s IRR three months later on March 26.DOLE said the IRR shall take effect 15 days after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation and posting in the labor department’s website. /ee