East Java back to 6-day week

SURABAYA: All East Javanese regencies and mayoralties, apart from the Surabaya mayoralty, will return to a six-day working week as of Dec. 1, a local official said yesterday.

The decision will end the trial five-day working week which East Java and other provinces started early this year.

Abdul Hamid, the deputy governor in charge of administrative affairs, said the state minister of administrative reforms had rejected the provincial administration's proposal for a shorter working week for efficiency reasons.

Hamid said although the central government had endorsed the Surabaya mayoralty's five-day week, it required exceptions for institutions like hospitals.

A recent survey conducted by the Surabaya mayoralty showed that 62.7 percent of the respondents were pleased with the shorter working week, 24.4 percent felt "nothing unusual" and only 9 percent were unhappy with it, Antara reported.

"We hope the decision will not make other regencies jealous," Hamid said. (pan)