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Senator files bill proposing P1,000-monthly allowance for home-based workers

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Katrina Domingo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/news/03/19/20200318-covid-work-from-home-md-01.jpg?ext=.jpg"/><figcaption>A merchant associate for a financial technology company works from his home in Quezon City on March 18, 2020, amid the enhanced community quarantine for the whole of Luzon. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA - Sen. Francis Tolentino on Monday filed a bill seeking to grant a monthly allowance worth at least P1,000 for all home-based workers to help them offset additional expenses from working at home.Under Senate Bill No. 1684, &quot;all employees working under a telecommuting program shall be entitled to a non-taxable allowance... for every month&quot; that they work from home.&quot;Working from home tends to increase utility consumption, particularly electricity,&quot; Tolentino said in the bill&#x27;s explanatory note.&quot;Some workers even purchase their own equipment for working at home,&quot; he said.Thousands of Filipinos were forced to work from home since March, after the government placed parts of the country under a lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).According to the Manila Electric Co (Meralco), each household is expected to see a 39 percent increase in electricity consumption &quot;for ever person on a work-from-home arrangement.&quot;&quot;These additional expenses are out of the employee&#x27;s own pockets and for the benefit of the employer&#x27;s business,&quot; Tolentino said.&quot;Assistance must be provided to the employees in order to cushion the impact of this new normal and make this practice sustainable.&quot;If the bill is passed into law, public and private agencies that fail to give the allowance may may be slapped with a P100,000 fine.Under the proposed measure, existing benefits should not be eliminated in lieu of the work-from-home allowance.Last week, Tolentino said home-based workers should also be given tax cuts. But the bill only guarantees that &quot;allowances granted by private employers... shall be deductible for income tax purposes.&quot;<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/06/20/home-based-workers-should-get-tax-cuts-for-extra-electricity-expenses-tolentino">Home-based workers should get tax cuts for extra electricity expenses: Tolentino</a></li></ul>

Sen. Francis Tolentino on Monday filed a bill seeking to grant a monthly allowance worth at least P1,000 for all home-based workers to help them offset additional expenses from working at home.

Sen. Francis Tolentino on Monday filed a bill seeking to grant a monthly allowance worth at least P1,000 for all home-based workers to help them offset additional expenses from working at home.

Senator files bill proposing P1,000-monthly allowance for home-based workers

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Senator files bill proposing P1,000-monthly allowance for home-based workers

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 13, 2020 05:09 PM PHT

Read More:

Francis Tolentino

Telecommuting Act

allowance

work from home

home-based workers

COVID-19

coronavirus

coronavirus crisis

ANC

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