DOLE chief: Working on the road should count as ‘working time’

DOLE Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma | FILE / DOLE Official Facebook page

MANILA, Philippines — An employee doing his job while on the road should already be considered “working time,” Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said on Tuesday.

The on-the-go work and other issues were the reasons, Laguesma said, the Department of Labor and Employment came up with Department Order No. 237 containing the revised implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act No. 11165 or the telecommuting law.

Senator Imee Marcos asked about the revised IRR when the labor chief faced his confirmation hearing before the Commission on Appointment’s committee on labor, employment, social welfare and migrant workers.

It was the phrase “mutually agreed arrangements between employers and employees” that Marcos wanted clarified.

“Pano kung hindi magkasundo? Ibig bang sabihin wala ng telecommuting or wala ng work from home (WFH)?” the senator asked.

(What if they fail to reach an agreement? Does it mean there will be no telecommuting or working from home?)

Laguesma first explained that since telecommuting is voluntary under the existing law, the two parties must have an agreement regarding terms and conditions.

“Pero hindi po ibig sabihin na wala na pong telecommuting na magaganap” he said, even pointing out that this new arrangement would probably become the new normal.

(But it doesn’t mean that telecommuting will not be allowed anymore.)

And then, he mentioned the “alternative workplace.”

“Nililiwanag po namin yun kasi minsan po nakasakay ka sa sasakyan pero nagtatrabaho ka. Dapat po i-consider na working time po yun,” Laguesma said.

(We are clarifying that because sometimes you’re already on the road, but you’re still working. So we should consider that a working time already.)

“So yun po yung intention muna nitong IRR na amin pong pinalabas nang sa ganun po ay mabawasan po yung mga friction points po ng manggawa at saka ng namumuhunan.”

(That’s why we came out with this IRR — to smooth things over between employees and employers.)

DOLE’s directive signed by Laguesma last September 26 provides that the work performed in an alternative work will be considered as work performed in the regular workplace of the employer.

“All time that an employee is required to be on duty, and all time that an employee is permitted or suffered to work in the alternative workplace shall be counted as hours worked,” it said.

Also tackled during the hearing was the compressed workweek set up for government offices where employees may be allowed to work 10 hours a day but only four days a week.

Marcos suggested studying the most straightforward working arrangements in other countries where workers could still work eight hours a day— three to four days in the office and one or two days from home.

JMS/abc