UNDERSTANDING OFFICIAL WORKING HOURS OF DEPED PERSONNEL | UPDATE FY 2021

DepED Personnel Working Hours for FY 2021

There has been different interpretations which resulted to much intrigue in the recently released Memorandum of the Office of Undersecretary: Planning, Human Resource and Organizational Development which is headed and signed by USec Jesus L.R. Mateo dated 01 March 2021.

      

A copy of the said memo can be viewed and downloaded here: Memorandum DM-PHROD-2021-0119.

         

In order to fully clear up these issues, we'd like to shed some light to this memorandum.

         

First is, this Memorandum is NOT YET complete. 

"Pending the release of the enhanced guidelines on the alternative work arrangements (AWA)..."

-Paragraph 1, Line 1 of DM-PHROD-2021-0119-

    

This means that the whole set of guidelines for Working Hours are still under review. This memorandum should serve as basis as to what to do in order to address the current predicament our field offices are facing.

Item No. 1 of the memorandum states that:

"1. All DepED personnel are required to complete the eight (8)-hour work day or the 40-hour work week regardless of the type of AWA implemented in the respective office/school/CLC."

Let us try to debunk this statement,

ALL DEPED PERSONNEL - implies that all employees of DepED will follow this memorandum regardless of position. 

REQUIRED TO COMPLETE 8-HRS/DAY OR 40-HRS/WEEK - since all government employees are required to work 8-hours per day for a total of 40-hrs per week as per Civil Service Commission Guidelines. 

REGARDLESS OF THE TYPE OF AWA IMPLEMENTED - this refers to the different Alternative Work Arrangements which were implemented in the field as per DepED Order 011 s. 2020.  

What's clear here is that:

1. Nothing has been mentioned that our DepED Personnel will not be allowed to follow the AWA implementations of DepED Order 011 s. 2020. This includes the provision of the 6-hour onsite and 2-hours WFH scheme with Individual Accomplishment Reports.
2. Assuming that all personnel must be in the field for 8-hours duty onsite would also imply that all DepED Orders that stated 6-hours duty and 2-hours work-from-home scheme was (in fact) unlawful from the very beginning. 
3. Furthermore, under the latest guidelines of the Civil Service Commission (CSC MC No. 18 s. 2020), Item No. 3.4: Work Shifting/Flexible (Staggered) Working Hours, it states that:
• Agencies may adopt work shifting/flexible working hours appropriate/applicable to their mandate/functions regardless of community quarantine classification their agency is located. 
• The agency head, in consultation with the employees, shall prepare the work schedule in light of the present situation; and
•  The agency head shall ensure that the employees remain flexible in making themselves available for work duties outside of core hours, if necessary.
4. With the aforementioned, the 6-hour onsite and 2-hour WFH scheme is valid. In addition to that, implying an 8-hour onsite scheme to all personnel without consultation contradicts this provision of the CSC. 
5. The basic understanding of teachers' working load, especially on staying onsite (in the school), has always been 6-hours since 2008! This is as stated in DepED Memorandum 291 s. 2008 signed by former Secretary Jesli A. Lapus. 

"d.   A teacher with six (6)-hours of actual classroom teaching and/or equivalent teaching-related activities and duties shall render the remaining two (2)-hours of work within or OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL PREMISES to comply with the eight (8)-hour workday by engaging in the following teaching-related activities and duties..."

-DepED Memorandum 291 s. 2008, Item D, Page 2. 

Item No. 2 of the memorandum states that:

"2. Aligned with item 5.10 of the Civil Service Commission Memorandum Circular No. 18 s. 2020, each office/school/CLC shall ensure that at least one (1) staff is present during the core working hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) of each workday in order not to prejudice public service delivery. The assigned personnel should be available on-site to receive documents and respond to queries via phone call or walk-in"

Notice that in the previous item which we discussed, the CSC Memorandum we used is the same referenced CSC Memorandum in Item number 2 above. In this item, that which is underlined is quite clear, but what many failed to emphasize is that this item is - in actuality - a condition. In other words, if the said requirement is met, then the deliverables between 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. is already achieved. 

For example, if we have three (3) grade 3 teachers onsite for Monday. All teachers are following the 6-hours work onsite and 2-hours work-from-home scheme. Their duty are presented in this table below:

Personnel	Log-In	Log-Out	Total On-Site	Work From Home (hours)
Teacher 1	7:00 a.m.	3:00 p.m.	6 hours	2 hours
Teacher 2	8:00 a.m.	4:00 p.m.	6 hours	2 hours
Teacher 3	9:00 a.m.	5:00 p.m.	6 hours	2 hours

Now, the question would be, is the requirement under Item No. 2 of the aforementioned Memorandum not met?

What's clear is that, even when the teachers (or any DepED Personnel) are implementing the flexible working scheme, the office/school/CLC is still able to provide the necessary deliverables of their unit! Because what is apparent in the said item is that - at least one (1) staff is present during core working hours, regardless if the ones who is present is different after 3:00 p.m!

Besides, if you look at the Subject of this Memorandum, it says: Availability and Accessibility of Personnel During Core Work Hours, it doesn't rescind, repeal or amend any previous memorandum or DepED Order. So, why do we need to have a different implementation of our working schemes?!

And finally, Item No. 3 of the said Memorandum which states that:

"3. As a reiteration of Item 16.a.iii of DepED Order No. 11 s. 2020, Personnel under work-from-home (WFH) arrangement shall make themselves available and accessible during agreed working hours and must be able to respond to directives, requests, and queries through agreed modes of communication with their immediate supervisor and co-workers."

So, the question we would pose here is that, "does this item only refer to WFH for the whole day only or does. it include those who are WFH for the remaining 2-hours of their 8-hour duty?

This item did not specify which WFH it is only referring to, in fact, for as long as the teacher or DepED Personnel is on WFH duty, regardless of the remaining 2-hours or the whole day, this item applies to him/her. 

To summarize:

Does the memo state that ALL Teachers be onsite for the whole day?

 

No! The memo above does not say anything of that effect. For as long as our DepED Personnel could show via their Individual Accomplishment Reports that they are able to perform tasks for the remainder of 2-hours of their WFH scheme, then they need not be onsite for the whole 8-hours.

 

References:

DepED Memorandum DM-PHROD-2021-0119, Jesus L.R. Mateo, Undersecretary for Planning, Human Resource, and Organizational Development, 01 March 2021. E-Copy Download Here

DepED Order No. 011 s. 2020, Revised Guidelines on Alternative Work Arrangements in the Department of Education During the Period of State of National Emergency Due to COVID-19 Pandemic, Leonor Magtolis Briones, Secretary, 15 June 2020: E-Copy Download Here

Civil Service Commission Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 18, s. 2020, Alicia dela Rosa-Bala, Chairperson, 15 October 2020: E-Copy Download Here

DepED Memorandum No. 291 s. 2008, Guidelines for the Implementation of CSC Resolution No. 080096 on Working Hours for Public School Teachers, Jesli A. Lapus, Secretary, 13 June 2008: E-Copy Download Here