President Rodrigo Duterte on December 20, 2018, signed into law Republic Act 11165 known as the “Telecommuting Act” also referred to as the “Work From Home” Law. This new law recognizes that technological developments have opened up new and alternative avenues for employees to carry out their work, such as telecommuting and other flexible work arrangements (Section 2, RA 11165 ).
“Telecommuting” refers to a work arrangement that allows an employee in the private sector to work from an alternative workplace with the use of telecommunication and/or computer technologies (Section 3).
An employer in the private sector may offer a telecommuting program to its employees on a voluntary basis, and upon such terms and conditions as they mutually agree upon. Such terms and conditions shall not be less than the minimum labor standards set by law, and shall include compensable work hours, minimum number of work hours, overtime, rest days and entitlement to leave benefits. In all cases, the employer shall provide the telecommuting employee with relevant written information in order to adequately apprise the individual of the terms and conditions of the telecommuting program and the responsibilities of the employee (Section 4).
The employer shall ensure Fair Treatment, i.e., the telecommuting employees are given the same treatment as that of comparable employees working at the employer’s premises. All telecommuting employees shall:
- Receive a rate of pay, including overtime and night shift differential, and other similar monetary benefits not lower than those provided in applicable laws, and collective bargaining agreements.
- Have the right to rest periods, regular holidays and special non-working days.
- Have the same or equivalent workload and performance standards as those of comparable workers at the employer’s premises.
- Have the same access to training and career-development opportunities as those of comparable workers at the employer’s premises, and be subject to the same appraisal policies covering these workers.
- Receive appropriate training on the technical equipment at their disposal, and the characteristics and conditions of telecommuting.
- Have the same collective rights as the workers at the employer’s premises, and shall not be barred from communicating with workers’ representatives.
The employer shall also ensure that measures are taken to prevent the telecommuting employee from being isolated from the rest of the working community in the company by giving the telecommuting employee the opportunity to meet with colleagues on a regular basis, and allowing access to company information (Section 5). Moreover, the employer shall be responsible for taking the appropriate measures to ensure the protection of data used and processed by the telecommuting employee for professional purposes. The employer shall inform the telecommuting employee of all relevant laws and company rules concerning data protection. The telecommuting employee shall ensure that confidential and proprietary information are protected at all times. For this purpose, the provisions of the Data Privacy Act of 2012 shall have suppletory effect (Section 6).
The parties to telecommuting work arrangement shall be primarily responsible for its administration. In case of differences in interpretation, the following guidelines shall be observed:
- The differences shall be treated as grievances under the applicable grievance mechanism of the company.
- If there is no grievance mechanism or if the mechanism is inadequate, the grievance shall be referred to the regional office of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), which has jurisdiction over the workplace for conciliation.
- To facilitate the resolution of grievances, employers shall keep and maintain, as part of their records, the documents proving that the telecommuting work arrangement was voluntarily adopted (Section 7).
The DOLE is tasked with issuing the implementing rules and regulations and identifying the industries to be covered by this newly signed law. It shall establish and maintain a telecommuting pilot program in select industries, which shall last for a period of not more than three years and shall report to Congress on its findings at the end of this period (Section 8).
The “Work From Home” Law is intended to promote work-life balance (a favorite millennial term) and to obviously address the debilitating effects of traffic congestion, as there will be a short commute from the couch to the work place. However, it will likely not benefit certain industries, which require on-site performance like manufacturing firms, security agencies, etc., and professions like lawyers and doctors, among others, which requires personal lawyer-client handholding and doctor-patient consultations.
Fifteen best work-from-home jobs have been listed by RatRaceRebellion.com that are not only real but can also provide a decent income: (1) virtual assistant (2) medical transcriptionist (3) translator (4) web developer/designer (5) call-center representative (6) tech-support specialist (7) travel agent (8) teacher (9) writer/editor (10) franchise owner (11) social-media manager (12) childcare provider (13) graphic designer (14) short-term rental host (15) web site tester.
While “Work From Home” is a good concept, its success will depend on many factors, among them, the readiness of companies for this setup, a stable communication system, hardware and software at home, supervision and management, but above all, a sense of responsibility and discipline of the employee to perform at optimum levels outside the watchful eye of the employer.