Manila: A measure seeking to give workers the option to work from outside office through “telecommuting” was passed at the House of Representatives a year, after a similar measure was approved at the Senate.

The House of Representatives passed on second reading House Bill 7402, a proposed law that provides compensation and benefits framework for knowledge workers who work outside of the confines of an office.

Representative Luis Raymund Villafuerte said institutionalising new and alternative modes of working — made possible through the use of modern technology such as landline phones, Internet and mobile phones, among others, “is very timely in light of the worsening traffic situation in Metro Manila and the increasingly unpredictable weather.”

“More and more employers have expanded the traditional mode of on-site work to the adoption of flexible working arrangements such as the compressed workweek and telecommuting, among others,” Villafuerte said.

The proposed “Telecommuting Act” defines “telecommuting” as a flexible 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.

The measure stipulates that an employer in the private sector may offer a telecommuting programme to its employees on a voluntary basis, and upon such terms and conditions as they may mutually agree upon.

Currently, there are already work programmes and arrangements that allow workers to work at home or some other places outside the office. What Villafuerte, and the other proponents of the measure had in mind, is that such workers would also be provided with protection similar to what they have when employed as an office worker.

“The said terms and conditions shall not be less than the minimum labour standards set by law, and shall include compensable work hours, minimum number of work hours, overtime, rest days, and entitlement to leave benefits,” Villafuerte said.

Almost a year ago, the Senate approved on third and final reading Senate Bill No. 1363 or the Telecommuting Act of 2017 a measure protecting the rights and privilege of home-based workers, while encouraging companies to adopt a “work from home programme” for certain employees, whose nature of employment allows them not to be confined at the office.

Senator Joel Villanueva, chair of the Senate Committee on Labour, Employment and Human Resources Development who co-sponsored the measure, said the bill also aims to protect the rights of the home-based workers by ensuring that their pay is commensurate to that of their office-based counterparts and are given leave benefits and opportunity for promotion.

Studies by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said that aside from thousands of man-hours lost to traffic, the clogged roadways also contribute to increasing greenhouse gas emissions.