House passes bill seeking to beef up protection of freelance workers

Salient provisions of the invoice consist of making certain there exists a published agreement amongst the employer and freelancer, mandating hazard pay for the employee, and enumerating illegal procedures

MANILA, Philippines – The Residence of Associates in the 19th Congress accredited on Monday, February 6, a invoice that seeks to market and shield the welfare of freelance personnel.

Salient provisions of House Bill No. 6718 consist of:

• making certain there is a prepared contract that states the terms of the freelancer’s work
• mandating hazard spend and evening shift differential to freelance employees
• delivering a record of illegal practices for the using the services of celebration, this sort of as providing payment to the worker later on than 15 days after the date stated in the published deal
• imposing a fantastic of in between P50,000 and P500,000 for folks uncovered responsible of committing unlawful procedures
• mandating freelance employees to sign up with the Bureau of Internal Profits, and instructing the BIR to generate a exclusive lane for freelancers for these intent in each and every revenue district business
• granting tax reduction to freelancers in the threshold furnished underneath the amended tax code.

A overall of 250 lawmakers voted in favor of the evaluate, with no a person voting to oppose or abstain.

A very similar invoice now hurdled the House in the 18th Congress, but failed to get earlier the Senate at the time.

A 2018 report approximated that the Philippines has all-around 1.5 million freelance personnel, defined underneath HB No. 6718 as anyone “hired or retained to supply companies, in exchange for compensation, as an independent contractor to do function according to one’s have methods and without remaining subjected to the control of the hiring get together, besides only as to the outcomes of the perform.

House Speaker Martin Romualdez asserted that the evaluate, if enacted, would reduce abuse of freelance employees.

“As a sector with an exploding advancement spurt in the coming decades, they need protective go over beneath our legal guidelines to guarantee their transition as a substantial driver of our overall economy,” he explained in a statement.

Kabataan Representative Raoul Manuel, however, stated that although he voted sure to the bill’s passage, he insisted that the increase of the freelancing marketplace displays the lack of high quality employment in the Philippines.

“The proposed laws, as it is suitable now, does not delve into the phenomenon of significant foreign providers employing freelance virtual or on the net assistants in the Philippines and paying out them incredibly low costs as opposed to the rates they typically spend for the identical job,” he said in a speech soon after the vote.

“We really should also stick to the principle of compensating workers for the get the job done they do, instead than where they are centered. Organizations who exploit employees in this article in the Philippines utilizing these techniques must be covered by this legislation and mandated to pay the same prices they generally pay out a worker for carrying out the exact same task,” Manuel included. – Rappler.com