The National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) officials and staff continue to work from home through the online workspace provided by the Government Email System (GOVMAIL). Through the GOVMAIL accounts, the Board’s personnel interact with each other through the G Suite Platform. G Suite allows users to upload documents in a cloud storage and share with others to view and edit, making monitoring, consolidation, and submission of reports possible. It also has chat and video conference features that allow users to discuss work and official matters and hold meetings when necessary. These features have been most helpful in NCMB’s implementation of work-from-home scheme.

Work-from-home is one of the alternative work arrangements the government has adopted to ensure continuous government services and work despite the national state of calamity due to COVID-19 pandemic which placed the entire Luzon, including Metro Manila and most parts of the Visayas and Mindanao under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ).

The new GOVMAIL accounts under G Suite were released to the NCMB on 10 February 2020 with the intention of promoting the identity of the agency under the
consolidated .gov.ph domain. Despite ECQ, NCMB, together with the Regional Conciliation and Mediation Branches, continues to provide services to its clients by answering inquiries through social media. The Board also continues to monitor pending cases and generates monthly reports as part of its regular functions.

END/ Gillian Pearl L. Guerrero