The National Electrification Administration (NEA) is prepared to resume its “new normal” operations in its Quezon City office as soon as the government decides to further relax community quarantine guidelines across Metro Manila.
The NEA through its Human Resources and Administration Department (HRAD) came up with an eight-page return-to-work plan for agency officials and staff once all industries are allowed to run at full capacity despite the presence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Regular sanitation and disinfection of rooms, offices and other facilities will be carried out.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has become an accelerator for one of the greatest NEA workplace transformations. How a department/office plan, communicate and work will be changed during the ‘new normal, new mindset’ scenario,” NEA Administrator Edgardo Masongsong said.
Among the various mechanisms the NEA will continue to enforce is the adoption of alternative work arrangements, such as telecommuting and skeleton staffing, as recommended by the Civil Service Commission (CSC).
Employees who may be assigned as part of the skeleton workforce are entitled to hazard pay on top of the compensatory time off, as well as other applicable allowances, subject to the accounting, auditing and budgeting rules of the agency.
Transportation services may be arranged for those who live far from the workplace and have no personal vehicles. All employees, officials and guests are required to wear protective masks at all times and submit themselves to temperature checks before entering the NEA building.
Workers are also encouraged to bring their own meals as communal dining at the office pantry, conference rooms, and canteen is not allowed to maintain proper social distancing. Employee assemblies and other gatherings likewise remain suspended until further notice.
Regular sanitation and disinfection of rooms, offices and other facilities will be carried out. Employees are also told to conduct daily self-monitoring and inform the management right away if they are sick or have come in contact with people who tested positive for COVID-19.
All employees, officials and guests are required to wear protective masks at all times.
An isolation room and the NEA clinic with staff equipped with personal protective gears have also been prepared to take care of employees who may fall ill or exhibit coronavirus-like symptoms while at work.
The NEA-HRAD issued these interim guidelines to prepare, protect and educate all employees, project officers, management consultants, service partners and other stakeholders in accordance with the current policies of relevant government agencies.
Its implementation will depend on future announcements and advisories from the Office of the President, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the Department of Health and the Local Government of Quezon City.
The NEA is a government-owned and -controlled corporation attached to the Department of Energy. It currently employs around 295 civil servants and 105 non-regular staff members. The agency has been working under limited capacity since mandatory lockdowns were imposed.
The Philippines has over 14,000 COVID-19 cases at present. Like other countries around the world, it is slowly trying to reopen its economy while waiting for the development of an effective vaccine. The virus infected more than 5.5 million people worldwide and killed over 350,000.