WFH government employees in the Philippines reimbursed

Department of Budget and Management (DBM) budget secretary Wendel Avisado said, due to lockdowns caused by COVID-19, departments and agencies should ensure that personnel under alternative work arrangements prescribed by the Civil Service Commission – including work from home – are equipped with communication equipment like computers or laptops, mobile phones, as well as access to Internet and email. 

However, he said such reimbursements should only cover “reasonable” Internet and mobile data subscription expenses of government workers at home so they could “augment or defray some of the costs”, but “not to cover the actual total costs”. 

He added that supporting receipts must accompany applications for reimbursements, and not all reimbursements will be automatically granted. 

People who are ineligible for reimbursements include consultants, those hired under job orders and service contracts, those with work-issued phone subscriptions having mobile data package allocations of 4GB and above, as well as those who had been receiving similar communications-related benefits worth P300 (US$6.1) and above monthly. 

READ: Employer group in the Philippines opposes 10-day service incentive leave

For those eligible, the amounts claimable depend the number of days an employee worked from home a month: one to five days: up to P75 (US$1.5); six to 11 days: up to P150 (US$3.0); 12 to 16 days: up to P225 (US$4.6); and 17 or more days: up to P300 (US$6.1), according to Inquirer.