WITH soaring fuel costs and heavy traffic resuming in the metropolitan areas of the country, the Telecommuting Act which was signed into law in 2018 has become top-of-mind as various sectors expressed support for continuing alternative work arrangements. This law allows those in the private sector to work 'from an alternative workplace with the use of telecommunications and/or computer technologies.'

While the law was affected in 2018, it was the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and the subsequent lockdowns that led the government, private, and even public sector employers to rapidly and extensively implement alternative work arrangements such as work-from-home (WFH) and hybrid (partly on-site, partly WFH) models.