Disability or death due to injuries sustained by employees while working from home are now compensable under the Employees Compensation Program, Department of Labor and Employment Information and Public Service Director Rolly Francia told a virtual briefing Wednesday.
In a separate statement, the Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC), an attached agency under the DOLE, said its governing board approved Board Resolution No. 21-03-09 on March 11.
The resolution creates a policy on “the compensability of disability or death due to injuries sustained by employees in the public and private sector while in the performance of their duties or assigned tasks in their residences or dwelling places.”
This means that disability or death due to injuries sustained by an employee while working from home was now compensable under the ECP, “provided that there is a written directive or order from his or her employer requiring a work-from-home arrangement or the performance of a specific task within a specified period at the residence or dwelling place of the employee.”
Under the ECP, workers who suffer from work-related sickness, injury, or death are entitled to benefits such as loss of income benefits, medical benefits, and death and funeral benefits.
Persons with work-related disabilities may also avail themselves of rehabilitation services under the “Katulong at Gabay sa Manggagawang may Kapansanan” program, which includes free physical, speech, or occupational therapy, assistive devices, and livelihood training and financial assistance.
For her part, ECC Executive Director Stella Zipagan-Banawis said it was high time the commission issued the policy in recognition of the new and alternative avenue employees carried out their work.
Banawis said: “As the policy arm of the ECP, we want to make sure that our program remains relevant and responsive to the needs of our workers and the demands of their working environment.”
“The ECC saw a need to initiate this policy in response to the changing landscape of work and definition of workplace, propelled by the development in telecommunications and innovations in computing technology.”