AS the country waits for President Duterte to sign into law the “work-from-home” bill or Telecommuting Act of 2017, many workers are excited about the changes that this new legislation, if and when implemented, will bring into their professional and personal lives. Under this bill, an employee in the private sector can work from an alternative workplace, such as his/her home or coffee shop, with the help of technology (laptop, Internet, mobile phone, etc.). It will be the employers’ prerogative, however, whether or not they will allow their employees to telecommute.
There are many advantages that I see here. One is the opportunity for the employee to save time because there is no need to commute to and from a physical office. The hours one spends in a traffic gridlock can instead be spent working. Another opportunity, for the employer, is the reduction of overhead costs and an expected higher productivity from the worker. These are, quite obviously, major gains for both parties. Sponsors of the bill are also optimistic that it will help ease Metro Manila’s traffic congestion and contribute to the country’s economic growth.
Telecommuting or working from home may fall under what we call the “gig economy,” which is actually also a subset of the sharing economy. (A lot of it remains to be seen and would also depend largely on the mutual agreement between worker and employer.) The gig economy is an environment where people work for themselves and deliver their services for clients or employers on either a part-time or full-time basis. It has been said many times that freelancing/telecommuting/self-employment is the future of work. There are those who agree with this, but there are also many who have said that it is not so.
On the local front, the success or failure of the proposed law would, to a great extent, depend on the actual guidelines that the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will create. The bill’s sponsors have said that a telecommuting pilot program in select industries will be established for about three years to enable the DOLE to take a closer look at the pros and cons of the program within the local setting. Here are some of the areas of contention:
Rate of pay, including overtime and night-shift differential, and other similar monetary benefits;
Right to rest periods, regular holidays and special nonworking days;
Equivalent workload and performance standards;
Access to training and career development opportunities;
Appropriate training on the technical equipment at their disposal, as well as the characteristics and conditions of telecommuting; and
Collective rights, the same as what the workers at the employer’s premises enjoy.
The proposed law is apparently very promising. Hopefully, the guidelines to be created will protect the rights and welfare of workers, and that its implementation will enable all concerned to work towards the improvement of our economy.