Civil Service Commissioner Aileen Lizada
MANILA – Government workers required to physically report for work should be provided with transportation, especially during the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) and ECQ where public transportation is not allowed to operate.
Civil Service Commissioner Aileen Lizada made this reminder to government heads of agencies on Tuesday, saying based on CSC Memorandum Circular 10 issued last May, “transportation facilities shall be provided by the agency to employees who are supposed to report as part of the skeleton workforce.”
Lizada said heads of government agencies should be reminded of this memorandum if they opt to adopt the skeleton workforce under the alternative work arrangement.
MC 10 enumerates the revised interim guidelines for alternative work arrangements and support mechanisms for workers in the government during the period of the state of national emergency due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
It states that government agencies may adopt any or a combination of the alternative work arrangements, such as work from home, skeleton workforce, four-day workweek, staggered working hours, or a combination of these.
In the skeleton workforce arrangement, “a minimum number of employees is required to man the office to render service when full staffing is not possible.”
Lizada said government agencies requiring their employees to physically report for work in the office must provide them with a mode of transportation.
"Now that public utility vehicles are not allowed to operate under the MECQ, heads of agencies must make sure that employees reach the office. Shuttle services using their respective vans or government vehicles may be utilized. In the absence of these, the agency may hire vans or even jeepneys subject to COA (Commission on Audit) guidelines," she said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Lizada said there is no need for a special permit and all that is needed is a contract between the government agency concerned and the shuttle service provider.
MC 10 covers "all government agencies and instrumentalities, such as constitutional bodies, departments, bureaus, and agencies of the national government, government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs) with original charters, local government units (LGUs), and state universities and colleges (SUCs)”. (PNA)
