4-day workweek sought for QC gov’t workers

SCREENGRAB from web.csc.gov.ph

MANILA, Philippines—The four-day workweek—an optional schedule approved by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) for government agencies based in Metro Manila—is being pushed in the very city that hosts the CSC main office.

A Quezon City councilor has filed a resolution urging Mayor Herbert Bautista to adopt the scheme in which local government employees would go to work only Tuesdays to Fridays or Mondays to Thursdays, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., with an hourlong lunch break.

District 5 Councilor Allan Butch Francisco said City Hall could meet the requirements set by the CSC for government agencies that want to follow this schedule, which the commission approved in a Sept. 8 resolution in view of the worsening traffic situation in the capital.

In a resolution filed last week, Francisco cited the city government’s frontline services that could be accessed through the Internet. He also noted the recently implemented ordinance allowing the payment of real estate property taxes through banks and financial intermediaries.

“The new work schedule, if implemented in the local government of Quezon City, will promote work-life balance among its employees, boosting their engagement, morale and productivity,” he said.

It would also help decongest traffic in the city and boost the local government’s energy conservation initiatives, he added.

Militant labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno and the Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage) have opposed the four-day workweek, saying it would only take a toll on the health of employees who will be working 10 hours a day.