THE Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan, Court of Tax Appeals, and other lower courts in the country will now be allowed to operate at 80-percent capacity, while employees can now report for work on-site starting tomorrow, February 16, 2022.
In a circular issued by Office of the Court Administrator Officer-in-Charge Raul Bautista Villanueva, employees of the Supreme Court can now physically report for work from 8 am to 4:30 pm, Monday to Friday.
However, employees assigned at the Medical and Dental Services, Security Division, Maintenance Division and Motorpool should be 100-percent physically present.
According to Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, the revised work schedule at the Supreme Court was in consideration of the continued decline of COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila and the extension of the Alert Level 2 status up to February 28.
Employees who will have symptoms of the disease, however, will not be allowed to report for work.
The same working arrangement will be implemented at the Court of Appeals in Manila, and at the Court of Tax Appeals and Sandiganbayan in Quezon City.
Meanwhile, 80 percent of court personnel in other lower courts in the country that are under Alert Level 2 will be allowed to physically report for work from Monday to Saturday.
For trial courts in areas under Alert Level 3, 60 percent of their employees will be allowed to work onsite.
Also to be allowed are the personal filing of pleadings and other court submissions but those who will file these documents should first present a COVID-19 vaccination ID before they are allowed to enter court premises.
Although the working capacity is already increased, the implementation of work from home arrangements among employees will continue, and courts are still urged to conduct court hearings via video conferencing.