The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) is poised to issue a memorandum circular (MC) that would allow information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) companies to implement work-from-home (WFH) and hybrid work arrangements by up to 70 percent before the mandate for them to go back on site by April 1.
Charito Plaza, PEZA director-general, said the MC to be issued to registered business enterprises (RBEs) will replace the current arrangement implemented during the start of the pandemic where RBEs were allowed to operate 90 percent offsite as business assistance and relief due to the pandemic.
Plaza said the MC will come out this week or before March 31 , the deadline in which WFH was allowed by the Fiscal Incentives and Review Board (FIRB). Comments on the MC from the legal offices of PEZA and the Board of Investments (BOI) are being integrated.
Plaza said PEZA will no longer seek an appeal to the FIRB to extend the WFH and hybrid work in a previous order as the new MC just reinstates the 70:30 ratio implemented by the agency. She also cited the Telecommuting Act and Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises as bases.
According to Plaza, CREATE allows IT-BPM companies to engage in local sub-contracting where they can outsource a portion of their activity to the domestic territory as long as the company meets the minimum of 70 percent export sales / services.
“In effect, it is a permissible activity under the PEZA, Telecommuting and the CREATE Laws,” Plaza added.
Plaza said PEZA will recommend to the new administration to institutionalize the ratio and the hybrid scheme through legislation.
“Right now we have to revise existing laws if we’ll adopt hybrid which will defeat the economic zone concept,” she said.
According to Plaza, the BOI will include in the Strategic Investments Priorities Plan which will be released soon a provision allowing 50 percent WFH for ecozone locators regardless of nationality.
The cap was agreed on by a technical working group, she said.
The telecommuting law institutionalized telecommuting , 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.
In all these, Plaza said, there will be no diminution of incentives.
Meanwhile, The Chamber of Real Estate & Builders’ Associations, Inc. (CREBA)
has joined major business groups in calling for a full return to the workplace of major segments of the economy as a significant step towards post-pandemic normalcy.
In a statement, CREBA said it shares the position of government, private sector leaders and micro, small and medium enterprise that revival of business activities is key to recovery.
The multi-sectoral appeal was led by the Ayala Land, Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FFCCCI), Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX), Go Negosyo, Management Association of the Phils., Megaworld, Philconstruct, Philippines Retailers Association, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Resto PH, Robinsons Land and SM Prime, among others.
CREBA said return to economic wellness begins with the presence of our country’s workers in the business and commercial centers to enhance efficiency and productivity
It noted the visible increase in mall and fast-food traffic since November, with public transportation ridership steadily inching up to its pre-pandemic levels.
