Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
 Second Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. 10327 
_______________________________________________________________________ 
Introduced by the Honorable ANIELA BIANCA D. TOLENTINO 
_______________________________________________________________________ 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The COVID-19 pandemic led Filipinos to accept the concepts of telecommuting and 
working from home. Employers, multinational corporations, and micro, small, and 
medium enterprises also embraced a hybrid work setup of onsite and work from home 
methods. 
Republic Act No. 11165, otherwise known as the "Telecommuting Act," encourages 
the private sector to explore telecommuting work arrangements for their employees and 
it has become significant more than ever because of the COVID- 19 pandemic. However, 
working from home tends to increase utilities consumption, particularly electricity. 
Residential energy use has risen due to more people staying at home. Some workers 
even purchase their own equipment for working at home. These additional expenses are 
out of the employee's own pockets and for the benefit of the employer's business. 
The proposed legislation herein seeks to amend R.A. No. 11165 to require 
employers to provide their telecommuting employees with a Three Thousand Pesos 
(P3,000.00) non-taxable allowance per month to answer for the additional cost of utilities 
from telecommuting. The financial assistance to telecommuting employees must be 
provided to the employees to cushion the impact of the additional expenses on utilities 
brought about this work set-up. 
This representation also seeks to strengthened and expand the coverage of the 
Telecommuting Act by including the public or government sector. This bill seeks to 
equalize the opportunity between the private and public sectors by allowing employees 
from the latter to also have a chance for a work set-up under the Telecommuting Act.   
For the Filipino people, the approval of the foregoing bill is earnestly being sought. 
May 6, 2024
10:46 am


Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
 Second Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. 10327 
_______________________________________________________________________ 
Introduced by the Honorable ANIELA BIANCA D. TOLENTINO 
_______________________________________________________________________ 
AN ACT STRENGTHENING AND EXPANDING THE COVERAGE  
OF THE TELECOMMUTING ACT AND PROVIDING INCENTIVES FOR 
TELECOMMUTING EMPLOYEES, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE  
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 11165, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE  
"TELECOMMUTING ACT," AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Section 4 of Republic Act (R.A.) No. 11165, otherwise known as the 
"Telecommuting Act," is hereby amended to read, thus: 
"SEC. 4. Telecommuting Program - An employer in the private OR PUBLIC sector 
may offer a telecommuting program to its employees on a voluntary basis, and 
upon such terms and conditions as they may mutually agree upon;" 
SECTION 2. A new section is hereby inserted after Section 8 of R.A. No. 11165, 
which shall read as follows: 
"SEC 9. INCENTIVES FOR TELECOMMUTING EMPLOYEES. - ALL 
EMPLOYEES WORKING UNDER A TELECOMMUTING PROGRAM SHALL BE 
ENTITLED TO A NON-TAXABLE TELECOMMUTING ALLOWANCE OF AT 
LEAST ONE THOUSAND PESOS (P1,000.00) FOR EVERY MONTH 
EMPLOYED UNDER SAID ARRANGEMENT; PROVIDED, THAT, NOTHING 
IN THIS PROVISION SHALL BE CONSTRUED TO ELIMINATE OR IN ANY 
WAY DIMINISH SUPPLEMENTS, ALLOWANCES, OR OTHER EMPLOYEE 
BENEFITS SERVING A SIMILAR PURPOSE AND CURRENTLY BEING 
ENJOYED AT THE TIME OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS LAW; 


PROVIDED FURTHER, THAT, NOTHING IN THIS PROVISION SHALL BE 
INTERPRETED TO PROHIBIT THE EMPLOYERS OR THE COLLECTIVE 
BARGAINING AGREEMENT FROM PROVIDING TERMS HIGHER OR MORE 
FAVORABLE THAN THE ABOVEMENTIONED RATE; PROVIDED FINALLY, 
THAT, ALLOWANCES GRANTED BY PRIVATE EMPLOYERS UNDER THIS 
PROVISION SHALL BE DEDUCTIBLE FOR INCOME TAX PURPOSES." 
 
Succeeding sections of R.A. No. 11165 are hereby renumbered accordingly. 
 
SECTION 3. Penalties. - Any violation of the provisions of this Act shall be 
punished with a fine of not more than One Hundred Thousand Pesos (P100,000.00). 
 
SECTION 4. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The Department of 
Labor and Employment, the Department of Finance, and the Bureau of Internal Revenue 
shall promulgate the rules and regulations to implement this Act within ninety (90) days 
from the effectively of this Act. 
 
SECTION 5. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act is declared invalid 
or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions shall continue to be in full force and effect. 
 
SECTION 6. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, executive orders, 
proclamations, rules and regulations, and issuances, or parts thereof which are 
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, are hereby repealed, amended, or modified 
accordingly. 
  
SECTION 7. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. 
 
Approved,