MORE local firms are eyeing to implement a work-from-home scheme, but are stymied by slow Internet connection and lack of available industry practices, according to a survey by the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop).
The Ecop survey reported only 28.57 percent of businesses implement telecommuting, also known as work from home, as a work arrangement. The majority of these firms come from the information-technology and business-process management, consultancy and trade industries.
They adopted telecommuting to relieve workers of the heavy traffic to and from the workplace, as well as to promote work-life balance and flexibility.
Further, several multinationals permitted work from home to accommodate their operations in different time zones. Some firms also implemented telecommuting to enhance employee engagement and retention.
The survey noted 64 percent of those with telecommuting practices are micro, small and medium enterprises, a bulk of which classify themselves as small, or with an employment size of no more than nine workers. The telecommuting arrangements of most businesses cover only managerial employees, the survey claimed. Consultants and project staff are also permitted to work from home.
In terms of fair treatment, more than 86 percent said their telecommuting employees receive the same benefits as those of their office-based counterparts, while workers from those that responded otherwise are ineligible for extra allowances, overtime pay and additional pay for additional days worked.
The survey added 68 percent enforce a telecommuting policy with provisions on data privacy and protection. Some of the provisions require employees to ensure company data remain confidential, work laptops are encrypted and equipment use is monitored.
For businesses that have yet to implement telecommuting, unwillingness of the management was cited as the primary reason, while some firms think the work arrangement is not applicable to their industry since their operations require the physical presence of the worker.
However, the Ecop survey reported 87 percent are open to allowing work from home in the future. They could adopt the practice if appropriate equipment, better Internet connection, best practices from their industry, software for monitoring work hours and output, among others, are made available.
Under the Telecommuting Act, telecommuting is defined as “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.”
The Ecop survey will serve as the business sector’s input to the crafting of the implementing rules and regulations of the Telecommuting Act. The survey obtained the response of 98 firms.