PRESIDENT Rodrigo Roa Duterte (PRRD) signed Republic Act 11165 or the Telecommuting Act as early as Dec. 20, 2018.
Perhaps unknown to many, it was enacted with a primary objective to carry out alternative and flexible work arrangements for private sector employees to work outside their offices with the use of telecommunication or computer technologies.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) subsequently released the law’s Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR).
The law mandates that all telecommuting employees will enjoy the following arrangements:
1.) Receive a 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.) 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;
5.) Receive appropriate training on the technical equipment at their disposal, and the characteristics and conditions of telecommuting;
6.) Same collective rights as the workers at the employer’s premises, and shall not be barred from communicating with workers’ representatives.
Global experts from leading universities present different theories and assumptions as regards the idea of a work-from-home. While latest technologies allow remote work more and more practicable and feasible, organizations have found that that keeping employees on-site is more effective. Be that as it may, a lot of factors contribute to the disadvantages to remote work and equally significant advantages to working in the office.
Professor Richard Arvey, head of the Department of Management and Organisation at National University of Singapore Business School, is circumspect and has given the benefit of the doubt on work from home approach.
Prof. Arvey’s research indicates that not only are there disadvantages to working or meeting virtually, but also that there are significant psychological advantages in co-location and face-to-face meetings. He noted that, “Humans are by nature social creatures. Being physically in the same place serves a primitive human need. We seek contact with others, and avoid isolation. Email, teleconferencing or video-conferencing does not satisfy this need.”
In the light of COVID-19 pandemic, companies worldwide have no choice but to adopt remote work to allow continuity of vital operations. I think that is the best we can have now out of concern for everyone’s health and safety. Even schools, churches, and other public events resort to the virtual arrangement.
I have come across a statement of an Arab telecommunication expert and executive from Doha, suggesting that telecommunications is very big in building the digital economy and the backbone of the whole digital economy is data. As such, there is a strong support for the digital economy agenda through building initiatives and creating partnership ecosystem.
Given these challenges during trying times, telecommunication companies should be ready to adapt the latest changes in the work landscape by maintaining a robust infrastructure and quality of service./PN
