MANILA, Philippines–An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has urged the government to look for other ways to ease heavy traffic in Metro Manila instead of implementing a four-day workweek scheme in some government offices.
According to Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, the new work schedule may affect employees’ productivity and performance.
“How effective will the people be if they spend longer hours at work? Longer hours at work also means more pressure for them,” he said.
“It’s hard to transact with the government as it is and with longer office hours, the more public service delivery [may] be affected,” Pabillo, head of the CBCP Public Affairs Committee, said in an interview on Tuesday.
“Why reduce the number of working days when some people who go to work on weekdays find it hard to go to government offices to [transact business]? Instead of reducing it to a four-day workweek, I think it’s even better if government offices operate also on Saturdays to accommodate those who have work on weekdays,” he added.
Pabillo urged the government to look for another solution to traffic congestion such as improving the mass transport system as he did not think reducing the number of workdays could address the problem.
The four-day workweek scheme approved recently by the Civil Service Commission would mean longer working hours for government employees—from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. with a one-hour lunch break—either from Tuesdays to Fridays or from Mondays to Thursdays.
For an agency to qualify for the scheme, however, it should have a one-stop shop and its frontline services should be accessible through the Internet.
Instead of being welcomed, the new work schedule has been criticized by various organizations, including the labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno, which said that longer working hours would put the health of government employees at risk.
The Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees, or Courage, also said that the new work schedule would have a bad effect on “work-life balance” as the workers would end up spending more hours at the office than with their families.
At the same time, it may result in a decrease in productivity and leave workers more vulnerable to criminals as they would be coming home late from work, Courage added.