The Telecommuting Act of 2017, popularly known as the work-from-home bill, is now awaiting President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature after the Senate approval.
“In the bicam report ratified by both Houses of Congress, telecommuting—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—will remain as employers’ prerogative based on a mutual agreement,” the Senate said in a statement.
Once enacted into a law, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will strengthen guidelines to ensure that the provisions are treated fairly. The following are some of the provisions:
1. 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;
2. Right to rest periods, regular holidays, and special non-working days;
3. Equivalent workload and performance standards as those of comparable workers at the employer’s premises;
4. 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;
5. Appropriate training on the technical equipment at their disposal, and the characteristics and conditions of telecommuting; and
6. Collective rights as the workers at the employer’s premises, and shall not be barred from communicating with workers’ representatives.
Senator Joel Villanueva, author of the bill, said: “Once this our work-from-home bill becomes a law, we can now have a stable and consistent legal framework that can provide an enabling environment to encourage participation and enforce compliance among enterprises, big or small.”
Villanueva also stressed they have placed enough safeguards to provide work-life balance and extensively adapted office’s pay, leave benefits, and promotions.
