The provincial government of La Union is implementing the four-day workweek from April 18 until June 3 to mitigate the effects of high petroleum prices.
Zeny Aspiras, supervising administrative officer at the Human Resource Management Office of the provincial administrator, said the work scheme covers all employees of the provincial government, except those in the medical, rescue, security, revenue collection, and custodial services like the security guards, librarians, maintenance, and those at the border checkpoints.
“Kasi dapat tuloy-tuloy duty nila since 24/7 services nila (It is because their duty should be continuous as the services offered by their department should be available 24/7),” she said in a phone interview on Tuesday.
The employees at the provincial government, except those in disaster, medical, and custodial services, need to work from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. to complete the 40-hour per week requirement of the Civil Service Commission, Aspiras said.
“The trigger factor for the policy is the increased prices of petroleum so that both the employees and the provincial government could save up in the operational expenses. It is also to protect employees from too much exposure since we are still in the pandemic,” she added.
The public is already advised of the Monday to Thursday operation of the offices in the provincial government from April 18 to June 3.
Aspiras said with the four-day workweek scheme, employees will have more time to rest and bond with their families during the summertime.
Camille Bumatay, one of the employees in the provincial government, lauded the scheme.
“(It is) very helpful to the employees in terms of expenses in fare and other utilities. Frontline services are still provided on a regular schedule to ensure that the services are available to the residents,” she said.
Source: Philippines News Agency