Bello: Employer, employee must agree on ‘work-from-home’ terms

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Sunday said a work from home arrangement is good but this needs to be agreed upon by the employer and employee.

“Maganda ‘yan, maganda ‘yan. That would be a good arrangement. But this is an arrangement that must be agreed upon between the employee and employer,” Bello said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.

The “work-from-home” bill or Telecommuting Act of 2017 is now only awaiting President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature for it to become a law after the Senate and House of Representatives ratified the report of the bicameral conference committee.

Once the bill has been signed into law the Bureau of Working Conditions of the Department of Labor and Employment will draft the parameters covering work from home arrangements.

“’Yung arrangement na ‘yan, siympre ‘yung aming Bureau of Working Conditions, gagawa ng parameters kung paano ang magiging arrangement nila,” Bello said.

“Kailangan ‘yung management at saka employee mag-usap sila na ganito ang arrangement at ipapa-approve sa ating, gagawa ng guidelines ang Bureau of Working Conditions,” he said.

Once the bill is enacted into law, the DOLE is expected to come up with guidelines that will ensure the “fair treatment” provision of the measure such as the:

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;

* Right to rest periods, regular holidays, and special non-working days;

* Equivalent workload and performance standards as those of comparable workers at the employer’s premises;

* 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;

*Appropriate training on the technical equipment at their disposal, and the characteristics and conditions of telecommuting; and

* Collective rights as the workers at the employer’s premises, and shall not be barred from communicating with workers’ representatives.

The proposed law also provides for the establishment of a telecommuting pilot program in select industries for a period of not more than three years to enable DOLE to determine the advantages and disadvantages of a telecommuting program in the Philippines.