‘No noon breaks for gov’t offices’

Government offices across the country are no longer allowed to close at noon.

Information Officer Joven Naraja of the Civil Service Commission in Central Visayas said the “no-noon break” policy is mandated by Republic Act 9485 of 2007.

“Employees should not take snacks or lunch at the same time,” he said.

“Someone should be left to man the office.”

The “no-noon break” policy is  expected to enhance the delivery of services in government offices and smoothen the processing of documents, Naraja said.

The CSC was mandated to implement the policy, which is also compatible with  the Anti-Red Tape Act,  in 2010.

But since other agencies are still making guidelines, they only began implementing it last July.

The implementation coincides with the  commission’s  111th anniversary with the theme “Championing R.A.C.E. Public Service Excellence at Full Speed.”

Naraja said  they have been monitoring offices that close to let employees have lunch for the past two months.

But he refused to identify the offices pending to investigation.

He said the department head will be liable for the violation by virtue of  command responsibility.

The office should also have a visible  citizens charter that lists the office’s frontline services and point persons and explains processes for obtaining documents.