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The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday encouraged employers to opt for a work-from-home setup or other alternative job arrangements that would reduce the opportunities for the coronavirus to spread.
Such a work setup will eliminate close contact between employees and other people interacting with an establishment. This is going to be “critical especially during this period of exponential increase” in COVID-19 cases, according to the DOH.
Since the pandemic hit the country in early 2020, private businesses and government offices have enacted various arrangements and even physical changes in offices to restrict contact between employees and between staff and customers.
“Hybrid” option
Still others have opted for a “hybrid” work setup, or a mix of on-site and work-from-home arrangements.
Many have installed physical barriers and some have gone to the extreme of shutting down temporarily, all to curb or stop infections.
Along with the Ministry of Labor and Employment and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the DOH also reminded employers in the public and private sectors to firmly apply the Minimum Public Health Standards (MPHS) – hand washing , mask wearing and physical distancing, as well as getting vaccinated and improving air circulation in offices and stores.
There should also be strict inspection of proof of vaccination at premises or places of business where it is required, the DOH said.
Bike or walk
The health ministry said employers should assign and designate health safety officers to remind workers working on-site of the MPHS and to monitor and track symptoms.
Employers should also provide adequate ventilation and close pantries or areas where staff may congregate without masks.
The Ministry of Health has strongly encouraged employers to coordinate with epidemiological and surveillance units of local governments for specific advice on response and notification.
Promoting the use of bicycles or walking to the office would also help employees avoid exposure in crowded places, the health department said.
Even with growing confidence in COVID-19 vaccines, companies that have the option of implementing non-traditional forms of work are being encouraged to embrace the hybrid work setup, according to various market studies.
Forced to be flexible
In its Q3 2021 survey, real estate consultancy Colliers said 34% of businesses surveyed expected at least half of their workforce to return to work in 2022 and the other half to work remotely. . He said 31 percent wanted all of their employees to work on-site this year.
Investing in a hybrid work environment is one of the three key strategies companies should focus on for future growth, market research Euromonitor International said in its latest report titled “Understanding Business Trends: The Voice of industry 2021 ”. The other two areas are security and technology.
In a series of surveys of professionals from 15 industries around the world, Euromonitor found that employers were forced to ‘rethink their attitude towards flexible working’ as remote working became the norm rather than a temporary solution.
Job Preferences
The number of professionals permanently switching to some form of homeworking increased by 20% from 2020 to 2021.
A country survey conducted in October 2021 by the recruiting and recruiting agency Robert Walters Philippines found that employees qualified for mid-to-senior management positions were likely to decline a job offer that required them to seek employment. present full time in the office.
Fifty-two percent of those professionals were likely to turn down full-time employment, while only 20 percent said they likely wouldn’t turn down the opportunity, said Robert Walters.
Government workers
Among civil servants, alternative working arrangements “have had positive effects on [their] perceived performance and productivity, ”according to an online survey and focus group discussion of 2,756 officials by the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP).
But an alternative work model “comes at additional personal costs” as the majority of non-management employees used their own computers and Internet connections to perform their jobs, the DAP said.
He said the physical environment also affects productivity, as those who work from home “are easily distracted by personal matters such as housework and childcare.”
A 2020 study of the gender-sensitive homework program in a post-enhanced community quarantine scenario conducted by the National Research Council of the Department of Science and Technology of the Philippines showed that the majority of women no longer prefer such arrangement due to “more interference with work and home time, exposure to a range of vulnerabilities and multiple burdens.” —WITH A REPORT FROM THE INQUIER RESEARCH
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What you need to know about the Coronavirus.
For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.
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