The government is revising the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) on the work-from-home (WFH) arrangement to ensure connectivity of operations of IT-business process management (IT-BPM) firms registered Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).
Labor and Employment Secretary Bienvenido “Benny” E. Laguesma revealed during a panel discussion at the 43rd National Conference of Employers on the theme “Reimaging the Future of Employment: From Policies to Actions” that revising the IRR is the quickest way to resolve the WFH arrangement, which extension is going to expire on September 12 this year.
“While the legislation is a long route, the government is now in the process of revising Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) with respect to WFH arrangement,” said Laguesma.
Laguesma explained this is to ensure connectivity that some work that can be done onsite and work that can be done at home or remotely.
What is important, Laguesma said, is clarity on what deliverables can be done via WFH to ensure these firms are able to provide the services of their principals.
For his part, Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual stressed the need for a long term solution to the work-from-home issue for IT-business process management (IT-BPM) firms registered with the PEZA noting that WFH was proven to be a viable alternative these companies during the pandemic.
Pascual said the issue of work-from-home can be addressed via amendment of the PEZA law or allowing the shift of company registration to the Board of Investments (BOI).
“We are addressing that. We are trying to see whether amendment of the law is a more efficient way of doing it but there is also the possibility shifting registration from PEZA to BOI, which is not subject same rules about the portion of business that can be done outside of PEZA registered enterprise,” said Pascual.
Pascual has called for the resolution of the WFH issue for IT-BPM PEZA firms because the “pandemic showed that WFH for BPOs is viable alternative and in fact a preferred alternative by employees in the sector.”
Pascual noted that when the PEZA law was passed, there was no concept of IT-BPMs yet, only production plans or industrial companies. The law was meant to ensure that industrial firms registered with the agency export their products, and just limit their domestic sales to 30 percent only of total production.
The 30 percent domestic sales policy for PEZA industrial firms is being applied now for IT-BPMs, meaning 30 percent of their personnel are allowed to work WFH but 70 percent must work onsite or in its PEZA-approved ecozone.
This policy, however, is only extended up to September 30 this year.
Another option is to allow the transfer of IT-BPM registration to BOI, which does not cap the domestic sales to 30 percent of production and no locational restriction.