LOOK: DBM and COA issue interim guidelines governing Job Order and Contract of Service workers in government for the duration of the Enhanced Community Quarantine due to COVID-19

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and Commission on Audit (COA) issue guidelines governing job order (JO) and contract of service (COS) workers in government for the duration of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) due to COVID-19.

As government agencies have begun implementing alternative work arrangements due to the implementation of the ECQ, the DBM and COA found it essential to integrate COS and JO workers’ schedule and their welfare in the internal guidelines of government agencies that are engaging their services.

Under the guidelines, COS and JO workers in Luzon, including the NCR, may be considered for work from home and skeletal workforce arrangements. On the other hand, COS and JO workers in Visayas and Mindanao under the General Community Quarantine may be considered for any of the following alternative work arrangements such as skeletal workforce, work from home, compressed workweek, or staggered working hours.

Further, COS and JO workers who will be required to work from home shall be paid their corresponding salaries/wages during the community quarantine period. Furthermore, COS and JO workers who will not be required to report for work due to work suspension and those who are not part of the agency skeletal workforce shall be paid their corresponding salaries/wages during the community quarantine period as exception to the “no work, no pay” principle, however, for this occassion only.

This guidelines shall cover all COS and JO workers of Departments, Bureaus, Offices, and Agencies of the national government, including Constitutional Offices, state universities and colleges, government-owned and controlled corporations, and local water districts, for the duration of the state calamity and communicty quarantine period.

Local government units are encouraged to adopt the same guidelines.

[Download Full Text of COA-DBM Joint Circular No. 1, s. 2020 here]