Employers are opposed to a draft legislative bill enshrining the right of workers to disconnect after work hours, saying it will only create unnecessary tension with employees while also turning away foreign investors dismayed with the Philippines’ “unfriendly” labor environment.
Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr., president of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), said in a December 19 interview over Radyo Singko that he perceives no benefits at all with the proposed bill.
“Wala akong nakikitang advantage actually except that magandang pakinggan. Matutuwa ang mga ayaw naaabala, pero at the end of the day ay disadvantage sa kalahatan yan,” he said.
(“I don’t see any advantage except that it’s nice to hear. Those who don’t want to be disturbed will be pleased, but at the end of the day it’s a disadvantage for everyone.”)
House Bill (HB) No. 9735 was filed on December 12, 2023 by Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and is pending with the Committee on Labor and Employment. It seeks to amend Presidential Decree No. 442, or the Labor Code, to include an employee’s right to disconnect from office communications after work hours.
In the explanatory note to the measure, Rodriguez said his proposal is not new. He said that in France, a labor law gives employees the “right to disconnect” from email, smartphones, and other electronic leashes once their working day has ended.
According to the French labor ministry, the law is designed to ensure respect for rest periods and balance between work and family and personal life, the solon said.
The proposed right will apply to private sector employees. But the bill states that the employer “shall determine the conditions and exemptions, subject to such rules and regulations as the Secretary of Labor and Employment shall provide.”
Under HB 9735, employees will not be reprimanded, punished, or subjected to disciplinary action if they disregard work-related communications sent after work hours.
But Ortiz-Luis, Jr. argued that the proposed regulation will only ruin the workplace peace prevailing right now, where employers and employees are enjoying a “partnership” kind of relationship, with employees wanting to be kept in the loop.
“Maganda ang industrial peace dito sa Pilipinas [Industrial peace in the Philippines is good],” he said. “Hindi mo puwedeng sasabihing huwag mong abalahin [You can’t say don’t disturb the employee].”
At the same time, he assailed the abundance of unnecessary laws that he said threatens industrial peace.
“Marami tayong antiquated laws na dapat bawasan. Hindi natin dapat dagdagan nang dagdagan. Nagiging tensyon lang yan sa relasyon ng manggagawa at ng employer,” he added.
(“Many antiquated laws need to be scrapped. We don’t need to keep adding to them. It just creates tension in the relationship between employee and employer.”)
Moreover, the business leader warned that this law will have an adverse effect on foreign direct investments. “Napakakulelat natin sa share ng investment dahil maraming issue din sa atin [We’re last in share of investment because we have many issues],” he stated.
Ortiz-Luis said that if the draft legislation is passed, foreign investors, say, in the US, a country in a different time zone from the Philippines, would then find themselves violating a Philippine law if they contact a Filipino employee during off-duty hours.
“Eh di pupunta na lang sila sa Vietnam o Thailand na friendly ang labor laws. Marami tayong problema sa ganyan so huwag na nating dagdagan,” he said.
(“Investors will just go to Vietnam or Thailand where the labor laws are friendly. We already have enough problems so let’s not add to them.”)
