The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) are requiring large companies to provide shuttle services for their employees to reduce their risk of exposure to Covid-19.
The DOLE-DTI advisory issued over the weekend was in compliance with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases’ Resolution 69, series of 2020.
Under the new advisory, large companies, or those with special assets above P100 million, and located within special economic zones and other areas under the jurisdiction of Investment Promotion Agencies must provide transportation services to their employees.
The basis for the determination of the worth of “asset” of a company will include its “loans but exclusive of the land on which the particular business entity’s office, plant, and equipment are situated” as stipulated under Republic Act 9501, or the Magna Carta for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
“In case the private establishments are unable to financially sustain the provision of shuttle services, they may adopt alternative arrangements, such as cost-sharing, partial vouchers for use of Transport Network Vehicle Services, and other alternative arrangements to facilitate the transportation needs of their employees,” Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said in a statement.
Another alternative, DOLE said, is for the concerned firms to “contract the services of Public Utility Vehicles (PUV)” to service their workers.
Examination
The new DOLE-DTI advisory also indicated that employees, who belong to the “Most-at-Risk Population [MARP] and those who are at least 18 years old but below 21 years” can now return to their workplaces.
However, they must undergo a fit-to-work examination and secure a medical certificate from any competent authority.
The issuance stressed that “employers are highly encouraged to allow the said employees to be in a work from home arrangement, when applicable.”
DOLE and DTI also mandated companies to have at least one isolation room in their workplace for every 200 of their employees.
The isolation, which should be always be available, will serve as temporary holding facility for workers or visitors exhibiting Covid-19 symptoms.
The two agencies appealed to companies to have protocols for the temporary closure and disinfection of their workplaces.
Such closure may be in the form of a granular lockdown, wherein only a portion of the worksite will be temporarily shutdown.
“A shorter lockdown period of less than 24 hours for disinfection [disinfection time of three to four hours] is allowed, provided that the safety of employees is ascertained and a certificate of return to work from the specialists/cleaners/disinfecting agents is secured,” DOLE said.