THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said it will soon be identifying the industries to be covered by Republic Act (RA) 11165 or the telecommuting law.
In an interview, Labor Assistant Secretary Benjo M. Benavidez said this would be contained in the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the newly signed law, which they will start drafting later this month or by next month.
“We are just waiting for the completion of the publication requirement of the law, before we could start with the IRR,” Benavidez said.
He said they will be tapping the members of the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council (NTIPC) to the come out with the provisions of the IRR.
Last week President Duterte signed into law RA 11165, which aims to encourage employees to voluntarily work from home with the permission of their employers.
Benavidez, however, noted the arrangement will likely not benefit certain industries like the manufacturing firms, which will require its workers to be on site in performing their duties. Instead, he said it will be more applicable for office-based positions like writers, researchers and employees of a publication company.
Aside from industries, he said to be discussed in the NTIPC consultations will be the possible format of the contact for engaging in a work-from-home scheme.
The labor official said they will be proposing for the creation of a standard employment contract “to make it easier for all parties,” but he said it will be ultimately decided by the stakeholders.
Under RA 11165, employers and their employees engaging in telecommuting must formalize it in a contract, which will then be submitted to the DOLE.
Benavidez said this will allow them to ensure the provisions of the contract will be respected as well as monitor the number of firms, which will make use of telecommuting.
“If there are issues on the implementation of the contract, it will be initially handled by the grievance machinery of a company before it is submitted to the DOLE for conciliation and mediation,” Benavidez said.
He said the IRR will also contain provision on the occupational safety and health standards (OSHS) of telecommuting workers.
“Since OSHS usually depends on a workplace, we will set a specific minimum standards for them,” Benavidez said.
He explained RA 11165 will have no impact on the basic labor standards of telecommuting workers.
“The law provides a fair treatment provision. This means whatever benefit received by a worker in the traditional workplaces will be the same benefit to be given to the workers reporting at home or elsewhere,” Benavidez said.
He said these benefits include holiday pays, overtime pays, vacation leaves, membership to the labor union of company, and even security of tenure.
“I would like to highlight that what was changed under the new law is the workplace. Other than that, it [Labor Code] will still apply to them [telecommuting workers],” Benavidez said.
But Benavidez did admit the telecommuting arrangement will pose a challenge for them in terms of regulations.
“We have to contend with the fact that we cannot conduct workplace inspection. That is why we will depend on a complaints-based enforcement for this,” Benavidez said.