RMO No. 47-2022 — Prescribes the policies and guidelines in the implementation of flexible work arrangements in the Bureau of Internal Revenue Digest | Full Text | Annex A | Annex B

EURRU TNE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES Y

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE BUREAU OF INTERNAL REVENUE National Office Building

revenue meMoranduM order no. 47-2022

SUBJECT POLICIES AND GUIDELINES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENTS

TO All Revenue Officials and Employees Concerned DATE October 11, 2022

SECTION I. BACKGROUND

the issuance of Civil Service Commission (CSC) Resolution No. 2200209 promulgated on May adoption of Flexibie Work Arrangements (FWA) in the Bureau of internal Revenue (BIR), following 18, 2022 entitled "Policies on Flexible Work Arrangements (FWA) in the Government". For the guidance of all concerned, this Order is issued to serve as guidelines on the

healthful workplace to the extent possible as authorized under applicabie laws, rules, and performance continuity by all revenue officials and employees, and will establish a safe and regulations. The adoption of FWA will ensure effective and efficient delivery of public service,

SECTION II. OBJECTIVES

This order aims to:

1. Establish the FWAs to be adopted by the BIR to effectively manage any current or emergent situation caused by natural or man-made calamities, or any situation that may affect the attainment of the strategic plans set by the Bureau. 2. Provide clear guidelines and procedures in the adoption of FWA in all BIR offices: and,

3. Provide monitoring mechanisms to ensure that the delivery of public service is not prejudiced despite the adoption of the FWA.

SECTION III. DEFINITION OF TERMS

are defined below: For purposes of this and consistent with CSC Resolution No. 2200209, the following terms

A. Flexiplace -- refers to an output-oriented work arrangement that authorizes

office, or another fixed place, on a temporary basis duly approved by the head of office/agency. government officials or employees to render service at a location away from their office, either in the home/residence of the official or employee, agency satellite

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HOV 0"7 2t22 9:35 a.M I Flexiplace work arrangement has two (2) types, namely: A. 1. Work from Home (WFH) --- is a work arrangement where BIR officials or employees work- at home or their residence;

the following conditions subject for the approval of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue (CIR): The adoption of the Flexiplace work arrangement may be allowed under any of

1 Situational - this work arrangement is appropriate for ad-hoc tasks or

the employee and attested by his/her Head of Office. special work assignments or members of special taskforce or Priority Projects covered by a Revenue Special Order (RSO) that may require living in areas or assigned at BIR Offices struck by natural calamities, armed conflict and other unique situations that must be justified by short period of time of WFH. This can also be applied for employees

(e.g. no. of days per week) and must be specifically stated in the Ietter request of the employee or the office. WFH under Situational Conditions shall be for a limited period of time

2 Medical - this work arrangement may be allowed for BIR officials or

conditions shall be supported by the medical records of the official or employee concerned. the verification of the concerned employee's Head of Office/immediate supervisor. Request for Flexiplace due to medical which does not affect his/her ability to perform regufar work assignment at an alternate worksite as certified by the attending physician. The duration of this Flexiplace work arrangement shall be based on the recommendation of the attending physician and upon employees who are recuperating from severe medical conditions

A.2. Work from the Nearest BIR Office (WFNBO) --- is a work arrangement

place of residence (e.g. National Office, Revenue Regional Offices, and where BIR officials or employees, instead of reporting to their present place of assignment, report for work at the BIR office nearest to their Revenue District Offices).

B. Skeleton Workforce --- refers to a work arrangement where a minimum number

of BIR officials or employees are required to man the office to render service when full staffing is not possible due to global pandemics, natural calamities, armed conflicts or other unique situations.

C Work shifting -- refers to a work arrangement applicable to BIR offices

responsible in maintaining various building facilties or Information Technology

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a day. Systems/computer servers which will require the office to be operational 24-hours

D. adopt fiexible time for tts officials and employees from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM on a daily basis, provided that the required forty (40) hours workweek is complied with. Flexitime -- refers to a work arrangement where BIR offices are allowed to

E Combination of Flexible Work Arrangement (FWA) -- refers to the adoption of

a combination of any of the above-mentioned FWA by a BIR Office. SECTION IV. POLICIES AND GUIDELINES

A.General Guidelines for Flexible Work Arrangement

1. As a general rule, BIR officials and employees shall render regular work scheduie from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM and from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM on all days except Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays.

2. The Bureau, both in the National Office and Regional Offices, may adapt any or a as impiemented in this RMO, subject to the approval of the Commissioner. combination of the FWA in accordance with the CSC Resolution No. 2200209 and

3. Under all circumstances, the Head of Office shall be responsible for the foliowing:

a. Ensure the delivery of public service throughout the week regardless of the FWA b Determine the merits of the request for FWA and make necessary adapted;

C. Determine the minimum number of employees under skeleton workforce and the recommendation;

d. Ensure that appropriate measures to confidentiality, integrity, and availability of e. Submit a quarterly report of the FWA implemented by their respective Offices to . Ensure the submission of personnel of the necessary Accomplishment Reports the prescribed format of the Report on Flexible Work Arrangement; and, which will be the basis for the Individual Performance Commitment and Review (IPCR the PD, for National Office (NO) employees or the Administrative & Human on or before the 15th of the first month of each quarter. Attached as Annex A is official documents and processing of personal data by employees are pursuant to the provisions of R.A. No. 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012; Resource Management Division (AHRMD), for Regional Office (RO) employees, proper assignment of work schedute of personnel under flexitime and work shifting arrangement taking into consideration the function of the office and the needs for effective delivery of service;

4. The abovementioned report shall also include the Time Schedule for each employee (Regular, Flexitime schedule and Work Shifting/Night Shift, whichever is applicable).

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5. A supplemental report for FWA must be immediately prepared and submitted to the PD/AHRMD to reflect any of the following changes in the Office Work Arrangement:

An employee's WFH arrangement that will be approved after the quarterly Other emergency situations encountered by an Office or an employee due to Employee on WFNBO arrangement; unforeseen circumstances. submission of the report for FWA;

6. No changes in the flexitime schedule of employees after the submission of the biometrics systems used by Regional Offices. aforementioned quarterly report shall be allowed due to system limitations of the Biometrics Time and Attendance System (BTAS) of the National Office and other

7. All Offices shall adopt usage of videoconferencing/teleconferencing in conducting meetings/assemblies and other official activities, whenever applicabie. 8. Employees with an approved Flexiplace Work Arrangement shall be entitled to related civil service, budgeting, accounting, and auditing rules and regulations. the provisions of CSC-DBM Joint Circular No. 2, s. 2015, as amended, and other Compensatory Overtime Credit/Overtime Pay, only if they physicaily reported for work and rendered services beyond the normal eight (8) working hours per day or forty (40) hours a week, and those rendered on rest days or scheduled days off holidays, and speciat non-working days, both exclusive of lunch break, subject to

9. In the event of an emergency situation such as natura! calamities (e.g. severe the concerned Head of Office may decide to immediately adopt a full WFH Arrangement or a combination of WFH and Skeleton workforce, without seeking flooding, typhoons, earthquake, etc.), armed conflict and other unique circumstances that may endanger the lives of employees while reporting for work. prior approval of the CIR.

10. An incident report of the emergency situation, with supporting documents (e.g. news concerned DCIR/ACIR/COS/RD, whoever is applicable, containing the following reports, declaration of state of calamity of the LGU, issuances of relevant government agencies, etc.) shall be immediately filed by the Head of Office to the details:

Brief explanation of the emergency situation that was encountered by the Office; FWA that was adopted by the Office; and Exact number of days/weeks or even months that the emergency FWA shall be observed by the Office.

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11. The concerned DCIR/ACIR/COS/RD shall immediately forward the incident report the information and signature of the CIR. and all attachment to the PD, who in turn, shall prepare a covering memorandum for

B. PoliciesandGuidelines"ontheImplementationof_EachFlexibleWork Arrangement

1. Flexitime

Flexitime of BIR Offices shall be guided by the following provisions: 1.1. A Flexitime of 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM or 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM exclusive of one (1) hour funch break can be availed by BIR employees subject to the determination and approval of their respective Head of Office.

1.2. Flexitime Schedule for each employee shall be subject to the exigency of the between two (2) types of Employee Flexitime Distribution for its employees: service as determined by each Head of Office. An Office has the option to choose

a)10-80-10 Employee Flexitime Distribution:

b)10-90 Employee Flexitime Distribution: >80% of total personnel may choose 8:00 AM -- 5:00 PM; and >10% of total office personnel may choose 9:00 AM -- 6:00 PM >-10% of total office personnel may choose 7:00 AM -=- 4:00 PM;

> 90% of total personnel may choose 8:00 AM -- 5:00 PM > 10% of total office personnel may choose 7:00 AM -- 4:00 PM;

1.3. Offices availing of Flexitime are mandated to have available personnei for every hour covered by the Employee Flexitime Distribution of their choice. 1.4. No change of work schedule shall be allowed after the submission of the Report on Flexible Work Arrangement. 1.5. Offices also have the option to not avail of Flexitime Work Arrangement and only observe the regular work hours of 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. 1.6. Employees rendering field work may only avail of the 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM reguiar work schedule.

1.7. Priority of choice in the time-shift schedule shall be granted to those covered by office or his/her duly authorized representative. Persons with Disability (PWD), employees' with severe health conditions and undergoing medical procedures. Requests for reasons other than those within the scope of existing policies shall be allowed subject to the approval of the head of existing policies such as solo parents, employees caring for senior citizen parents

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2. Flexiplace

2.1. Work from Home

2.1.1. Requests for WFH arrangement shall be approved by the CIR. 2:1.2. All approved WFH arrangement shall not exceed six months. However. the Head of Office. applicants may reapply for WFH subject to the reevaluation/verification of

2.1.3. Reasons for WFH arrangement shall fall' either on Situational or Medical conditions which shall include but not limited to the following circumstances:

Situational Conditions:

Head of Office. Other analogous circumstances and unique situations that must be justified by the employee and attested by his/her Employees living in areas or assigned at a BIR Office struck Employees responsible in drafting revenue issuances for policy formulation; Members of Priority Projects of the BIR who will be required to prepare project proposals, status reports, research, etc. by natural calamities, armed conflict and other emergency situations

Medical Conditions:

For employees recuperating or suffering from any of the following severe illnesses/disability which does not affect their ability to perform regular work assignment at home:

following: Cancer (Those undergoing chemotherapy, radiation or other similar medical procedure) Chronic Kidney Disease (employees undergoing dialysis) Heart Disease (employees who are recuperating from angioplasty or open heart surgery) Persons with Disability (PWD) who suffered loss of any of the A Loss of one leg

Other analogous diseases Loss of one arm Loss of sight in one'eye Other cases as determined by the Head of Office and for final approval of the CIR.

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2.1.4. The following tasks may be given to an employee with an approved WFH

Arrangement:

d a) Research; b C Policy-formulation/review/amendment; Project work, including but not limited Data encoding/processing: proposals/project studies/training modules; I to,drafting of

g) Evaluation and formulation h) E e) f Computer programming: Database maintenance; Design work/drafting of drawing p!ans; management control systems: Budget planning and forecasting: Recording, examination and interpretation of financial records and reports; of accounting, auditing and

m) HR tasks, e.g. computation of leave credits, preparation of k} } evaluation or final presentation/assessment of the immediate supervisor, the Head of Office. Preparation of information materials; Other analogous tasks which require the use of a computer printing or submission of written outputs for the review, Sending/receiving e-mait: and the World Wide Web (internet) for reading, encoding, payroll etc.;

2.1.5. The Head of Office shall be responsible in the assigning of tasks/workioad and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018 are observed. to employees under WFH and ensuring that performance standards and work timelines in accordance to relevant Revenue Issuances, Citizen's Charter of the Office and R.A. No. 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business

2.1.6. Report (Annex B) to their respective Heads of Office. Employees with approved WFH must submit a Weekly Accomplishment

2.1.7. application of such leave of absences shall still be observed. An employee who fails to submit the Weekly Accomplishment Report or complete an agreed task shall be required to file for leave of absence for the days he/she is scheduled to WFH but produced no work output. Applicable Civil Service Commission (CSC) Rules and Regulations on the

2.1.8. Revenue officials and employees under WFH shall make themselves respond to directives, requests, and queries through agreed modes of communication with their Head of Office, immediate supervisors and co- workers; available and accessible during working hours, and must be able to

2.1.9. on the day they are scheduled to WFH. An employee on WFH Arrangement is considered on excused absence if the Head of Office or the immediate supervisor fails to assign, them a task

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2.1.10. In the exigency of the service, employees with an approved WFH Arrangement may be required to physically report for work by the Head of Office. 2.1.11. An official or employee requesting for WFH shall submit a letter request Project Based tasks, Medical Certificate of the attending physician for medical reasons, etc.) to their respective Head of Office. accompanied by supporting documents (e.g. Revenue Special Orders for

November to December 2022, WFH of 5 days from September to November 2022, etc.). she wili be on WFH and the number of months that the WFH arrangement will be observed (e.g. WFH of 3 days every Monday to Wednesday from The applicant must specifically state the number of days in a week he or

2.1.12. The Head of Office, may also request WFH arrangement for the Office. accompanied by supporting documents: provided that the following details are stated in the request and

Names of employees who will render WFH Specific days that an employee will be on WFH and Period of time that an empioyee wili be on WFH Reason of WFH (must comply with above stated reasons) Specific Tasks to be performed by each employee 2.1.13. The Head of Office, after receipt of the request for WFH, shall be work functions. the attending physician, (if request is for medical reason) as well as his/her responsible in verifying the merit of the request and if necessary, make the adjustment on the number of days an employee will be on WFH with consideration given to the health of the employee and recommendation of

2.1.14. After verifying the merit of a WFH request, the Head of Office shall route the request to the AHRMD. The concerned AHRMD, in turn, shall be the Deputy Commissioners (DCIR), for National Office (NO) Employees, to the PD. For Regional Office (RO) Employees, the Head of Office shall route responsible in routing the request for indorsement of the Regionai Director (RD) and forwarding the same to the PD. the said request for indorsement of the concerned Assistant Commissioner (ACIR)/Chief of Staff (COS) of the Office of the Commissioner or Office of

2.1.15. The PD shall prepare and route a covering memorandum for WFH requests for approval/disapproval of the CIR. 2.1.16. An approved WFH arrangement due to Situational Conditions is deemed terminated upon the expiration of the specific period of WFH stated in the assigned to an employee and end of an emergency situation an Office/employee may have encountered. approval and letter request for WFH, completion of the project/special tasks

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2.1.17. The CIR has the authority to disapprove/terminate any WFH arrangement of an employee or an entire Office. 2.2. Work from the Nearest BIR Office (WFNBO)

2.2.1. This Flexiplace Work Arrangement shall only be allowed for employees from reporting to their actual place of assignment. whose work function is not suitabie for WFH arrangement and is iiving in areas where there is suspension of mass transportation due to COVID-19 community lockdowns, or other emergency situations which prevents them

2. 2.2 The employee that will be under WFNBO shall first notify his actual Head of Office, the nearest BIR office to his/her residence. Office of the current predicament he/she is under that will prevent him/her from reporting for work. The employee shall recommend to his/her Head of

BiR Office, the temporary accommodation of the concerned employee that will be under WFNBO. The Head of Office shall coordinate with his/her counterpart from the other

2.2.3. nearest BiR office. An employee under WFNBO Arrangement shall be required to submit to their actual place of assignment a copy of their Weekiy Accomplishment Records (DTR) and Application for Leave (AFL), signed by the Head of the Report, format of which is the same with WFH arrangement, Daily Time

2.2.4. The Head of the nearest BIR Office shall be responsible in assigning tasks/workload to the employee under WFNBO Arrangement, as well as ensuring the regular attendance of the said employee. 2.2.5. for NO employees or Finance Division, for RO employees. An employee under WFNBO Arrangement who fails to submit his/her DTR AFL and Weekly Accomplishment Report to his/her actual place of assignment for at least one (1) month, may be considered as on unauthorized leave of absence and shall be required to return the corresponding money value of such absences to the Accounting Division,

submission of the above required documents. However, the Head of Office of the actual place of assignment must issue a letter or memorandum to the erring employee, copy furnished his/her counterpart in the other BIR Office, to call their attention regarding the non-

2.2.6. The WFNBO Arrangement of an employee shall be considered terminated situation which prevents them from reporting to their actual place of assignment. In this regard, the actual Head of Office of the employee must issue a letter or memorandum informing his/her counterpart from the other BiR Office to require the return of the concerned empioyee. upon the resumption of mass transportation or the end of the emergency

2.2.7. employee shali file for reporting for duty. Upon returning to his/her actual place of assignment, the concerned

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3. Skeleton Workforce

3.1. This FWA is applicable to a BIR Office that encountered an emergency situation such as natural calamities, armed conflict and other unique circumstances that will render full staffing impossible.

3.2. The Head of Office shall be responsible in determining the number of empioyees that will be on Skeleton Workforce. It is important to note, that despite a minimum number of employees reporting for work, all sections/units of the Office must be manned so that public service delivery will not be hampered.

3.3. Employees that will not be part of the Skeleton Workforce will automatically be under WFH arrangement and will have to comply with the requirements on WFH provided in this RMO. It will be the responsibility of the Head of Office to assign tasks/workload to all employees that will be under Skeleton Workforce and WFH Arrangement.

3.4. The Head of Office shall file the necessary incident report (details of which is the DCIR/ACIR/COS/RD, whichever is applicabie. same with the emergency WFH) accompanied with supporting document to the

4.Work Shifting

4.1. This FWA is applicable to Offices responsible in the maintenance of building which requires some of its employees to render work during graveyard hours (night shift). facilities and computer servers/Information Technology Systems of the BiR,

4.2. The Head of Office shall determine the number of employees that will render the Work Shifting Schedule as well as identify the time schedule of such employees.

4.3. The Head of Office shall report the names and time schedules of employees under Work Shifting Schedule to the PD/AHRMD, whichever is applicable.

4.4.The PD/AHRMD shall make the necessary adjustment in its records and

Work Shifting. respective Biometrics System to reflect the time schedules of employees under

4.5. The Head of Office shall be responsible in the monitoring of attendance and

accomplishments of employees under Work Shifting Schedule.

5. Combination of FWA

5.1.Offices may adopt a combination of any of the following flexible work

arrangements:

Flexitime and WFH Skeleton Workforce and WFH BU

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Other combination of FWA

5.2. The implementation of combination of work arrangement is subject to the abovementioned policies.and guidelines of each FWA.

C. Support Mechanism

C.1. All heads of division/office/unit/services shall ensure that revenue officials and

employees have access to or are provided with adequate and appropriate communication equipment or facilities, such as computer/ laptop, mobite phone, and internet access to enable consultation, coordination, and administrative processes.

C.2. The use of the Bureau's official accounts in accessing online tools, such as Microsoft Office 365, is required to ensure secure data back-up and privacy protection.

C.3. All heads of division/office/unit/services shall ensure that revenue officials and

them in accomplishing their performance targets as indicated in the respective workweek plan. employees are capacitated/oriented on the online platforms and tools to support

C.4. information should be protected and secured at all times. Appropriate measures shall be in place to ensure protection of data used and processed by the revenue officials and employees relative to Republic Act No. 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012. The confidential and proprietary

SECTION V. REPEALING CLAUSE

modified or amended accordingly. All other revenue issuances which are inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed,

SECTION VI. EFFECTIVITY

This Order shall take effect immediately upon issuance.

Commissioner of Internal Revenue LILIA CATRIS GUILLERMO

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