Only 30% of BPO Firms’ Workforce Allowed to Continue WFH Arrangement

Employees in information technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) companies remain persistent in their call for the government to allow the 90% work-from-home (WFH) arrangement — which ended on March 31 — indefinitely while still keeping tax breaks.

The hybrid work setup for BPO firms registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) has since been extended until September 12, 2022. However, only 30% of employees will be allowed to continue working from home as the remaining 70% will have to work on-site. These firms are considered export industries, hence, “the 70/30 export to domestic revenues as a definition of export enterprises can also be applied on [the on-site/WFH] arrangement,” explained Trade Secretary and Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) co-chair Ramon Lopez.

“As long as our ecozone locators doing hybrid work are complying with the minimum 70% export sales and minimum 70% on-site report by their workers, they are, and should be, entitled to enjoy our tax incentives,” supported  PEZA Deputy Director General Tereso O. Panga. “The 30% work from home is permissible activity under PEZA, CREATE (Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises), and Telecommuting laws.”

On Friday, PEZA announced that BPOs still unable to return to the office will have to request a letter of authority immediately to apply for hybrid operations. While the move was received by BPOs, it is still somewhat distant from what the industry had initially hoped for, especially amidst the prolonged global pandemic coupled with the recent hike in fuel prices.

“We would appreciate it if (the government) would declare that they would honor WFH arrangements indefinitely,” said Emman D. David, co-convenor of the Alliance of Call Center Workers (ACW). “The best and only solution to this issue is a hybrid setup wherein BPO employees are given the option, guaranteed by Republic Act No. 11165 or the Telecommuting Act, to work from home should they wish to.”

“We have received reports from some of our group members that their employers are interested in requesting a Letter of Authority (LOA) from the PEZA for the 30% work-from-home setup but are unsure how to proceed given the situation,” added David. “While we welcome the move of PEZA to allow a 30% work-from-home setup for registered BPO companies, we are concerned about the confusion that it brings considering the previous statements that were made by the agency.”

“(We) need more onsite operations to accelerate economic recovery. But we know that there are cost efficiencies in a hybrid/WFH set up, so we can allow that to the extent allowed in the law,” Lopez elaborated. So far, more than 400 LOAs have been received by PEZA as of April 8, according to the agency’s Director-General Charito B. Plaza.

Sources: BusinessWorld, Inquirer