WFH-related disabilities or deaths in the Philippines now compensable

In a statement, the Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) said, “Under Board Resolution No. 21-03-09, disability or death due to injuries sustained will be compensable under the ECP (Employees’ Compensation Program), provided there is a written directive or order from his or her employer requiring work-from-home arrangement or the performance of specific tasks within a specified period at the residence or dwelling place of the employee.”  

Under the resolution which was signed on March 11, workers can claim benefits under the ECP programme which include cash assistance for lost wages due to work-related illnesses, reimbursements of medical expenses, and rehabilitation services such as physical, speech, or occupational therapy. 

The EEC has not given details on how workers could claim these benefits. 

READ: COVID-19 now a compensable work-related disease in the Philippines

The ECC said it expanded the scope of the compensation programme “in response to the changing landscape of work and definition of workplace, propelled by the development in telecommunications and innovations in computer technology,” and the emergence of COVID-19 as a pandemic, according to CNN Philippines.