Telecommuting Act Contemplates a Voluntary Program and not Mandatory Arrangement
Telecommuting Act has been signed into law as R.A. 11165. It is intended to protect the rights of workers and promote their welfare in accordance with the policy of the State to affirm labor as a primary social economic force.
Telecommuting Act or R.A. 11165 PDF
IRR of Telecommuting Act or R.A. 11165 PDF
Telecommuting is defined as 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.
Thus, an employer may come up with a telecommuting program. Telecommuting Act does not make telecommuting mandatory for its employees. In Section 4 of the law it states “An employer in the private sector may offer a telecommuting program to its employees on a voluntary basis.”
However, once the employer has offered this program and the employee has accepted, he should observe with the provisions of the law which will be binding upon him.
These provisions include fair treatment, data protection, and administration. Under the fair treatment, the employer shall ensure that the employees receive a rate of pay and other monetary benefits not lower than those provided in applicable laws, and collective bargaining agreements. The employees shall have the right to rest periods, regular holidays and special nonworking days. They should have the same or equivalent workload and performance standards as those of comparable workers at the employer’s premises.
Further, the employees should have the same 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. They shall receive appropriate training on the technical equipment at their disposal, and the characteristics and conditions of telecommuting. They should have the same collective rights as the workers at the employer’s premises, and shall not be barred from communicating with workers’ representatives.
The employer should ensure that measures are taken to prevent the telecommuting employee from being isolated from the rest of the working community in the company by giving the telecommuting employee the opportunity to meet with colleagues on a regular basis, and allowing access to company information.
Under the data protection, the employer is responsible for taking the appropriate measures to ensure the protection of data used and processed by the telecommuting employee for professional purposes. The employer shall inform the telecommuting employee of all relevant laws, and company rules concerning data protection. The telecommuting employee shall ensure that confidential and proprietary information are protected at all times. The Data Privacy Act of 2012 shall supplement the provisions of the telecommuting law on data privacy.
In case of differences in the interpretation of the telecommuting arrangement, these shall be treated under the applicable grievance mechanism of the company. If there is no such grievance or if it is inadequate, the grievance shall be referred to the regional office of the DOLE which has jurisdiction over the workplace for conciliation.
To facilitate the resolution of grievances, employers shall keep and maintain, as part of the records, the documents proving that the telecommuting work arrangement was voluntarily adopted.
Major concern in this arrangement is the monitoring of productivity considering that the worker is not physically located in the office. Hence, the employer should set clear expectations which should be expressed in the written agreement. Both parties should discuss in detail mutual expectations concerning schedules, communication, and deliverables at the start of the telecommuting arrangement.
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For instance, how often should the company check the employee? The employee’s responsibilities should be clear and there has to be a way to communicate the updates to the co-workers. Making these areas clear at the start especially in the agreement can pave way for the better understanding of the obligations as well as the measure of performance.
In this Internet era, it is highly probable that most communication between the company and the telecommuting worker shall be through online means. The use of email, messenger, chat, or any other Internet-based platform will be maximized. Thus, the employer should have a backup of these records including the work that may have been submitted online.
Those who subscribe to LVS website will receive updates on this post since we will be posting sample Telecommuting Agreement and other relevant documents.
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