Confusing extra holidays

Confusing extra holidays

From Warta Kota

The government decision's on extending Idul Fitri and Christmas holidays, which are counted as part of an employee's annual leave, is a bit confusing. The first question is whether the holidays have to be taken, when in fact employees are free to take their leave whenever they want.

The next question is if an employee's annual 12-day leave has already been taken, can he or she use some of their holidays from next year's leave? If a company does not permit employees to borrow holidays from their leave, and an employee is absent on Dec. 5, Dec. 9 and Dec. 10, how will this be calculated? Also, is there any obligation for offices, including private firms, to close on the dates that are allotted as extra holidays?

This regulation, to complement national holidays, is meant for civil servants with the aim of fostering discipline, among other things, but private companies are encouraged to follow suit.

To my knowledge, the regulation on extended holidays, which are a part of the annual leave, came after the bomb blast in Bali. It is intended to enable employees to spend their holidays visiting Bali to restore its image as a safe destination.

In my view, the regulation is based on an idea that misses the actual point, i.e. how to make Bali really secure.

By adding more holidays to existing ones, or to be exact, by "forcing" employees to take their leave, will the image of Bali actually be restored?

MRS. HASAN SADELI, Jakarta