Five-day-work week proposal widely praised

JAKARTA (JP): The government's decision to allow civil servants two days off per week met with praise from members of the House of Representatives and government officials.

The director general of taxation of the Ministry of Finance, Fuad Bawazier, said the new scheme would encourage the growth of small-scale businesses, the so-called informal sector and the recreation business.

Minister of Administrative Reforms TB Silalahi on Tuesday announced that the plan -- which was designed following a recommendation by President Soeharto -- would commence on a national scale on Aug. 17 of next year, Indonesia's 50th independence day. However, he mentioned that it would not be put into effect until after having completed a test run earlier in the year.

Fuad said that the program would benefit vendors and small- scale businesses, who make most of their money on holidays.

"I feel relieved because this also means that my staff will be more productive after two days of rest," he said.

A similar comment came from House member Aberson Marle Sihaloho, of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) faction, who also saw the move as a positive one.

He said, however, that it would be even better if school days were also reviewed. "By reducing the number of school days and extending school hours there will be fewer public disturbances caused by students," he said.

Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro said that his ministry was aware of the plan and that it was formulating technical guidelines for the implementation of a five-day school week.

"There are still many obstacles, especially in villages where students live far away from schools," he said. He added that the technical guidelines would be finished by February of next year.

Wardiman explained that for these reasons, school children in villages might not be able to enjoy the program as yet. However, he said that in cities, where access to transportation and infrastructure facilities were adequate, the program could easily be implemented.

Aberson indicated that the reduced number of working days did not necessarily mean reduced working hours.

He pointed out that in developed countries, where the five-day work week has long been practiced, the system was quite effective. He mentioned research findings which show that it is better to increase work-load and have longer periods of rest, rather than extending the number of working days and shortening working hours.

Among the advantages of the program, according to Aberson, was the fact that each employee will have more time to engage in activities on Saturdays and Sundays.

Efficiency in social services will also improve and the government will gain substantial savings on electricity, water and telephone bills, he said.

Although many people appeared to be optimistic about the outcome of the program, reservations about the plan were expressed by a number of experts.

For example, Prabowo, a faculty member of the Indonesian Institute for Management Development, offered the view that the program would not significantly improve productivity.

"In fact, reducing the number of work days has very little to do with productivity," he said.

Prabowo explained that there were other, more relevant aspects of increasing productivity which the government could supervise and change. He suggested, for example, that the government consider increasing salaries to narrow the gap between the incomes of private business employees and those of civil servants. He also submitted that the government could restructure civil offices by slashing unproductive divisions.

"The current ratio between civil servant and private sector employee incomes in Indonesia is ridiculous," he said.

Prabowo said that the government's role is changing from one that is directly involved in the management of government offices to one that facilitates procedures, a role which demands less but requires more highly qualified workers.

"If we want to improve productivity, the government should first have a clear perception of how they will make these changes," he pointed out.

He acknowledged, however, that the five day work-week was "good" because it would serve to increase productivity "to a very limited extent." He also thought it might reduce Saturday traffic jams, save government expenses and increase efficiency.

"But unless it is followed by a transformation in government, productivity gains will not take hold. Private affluence cannot co-exist with public squalor for a very long time," he said.

Another critic of the new program, Mochtar Buchori, said he was convinced the program would "make people livelier, as they would be looking forward to two days off", but he doubted it could actually increase productivity.

Mochtar is rector of the Muhammadiyah University and former deputy chairman of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences.

"Productivity does not just depend on how happy we are at work but also on our work experience and how we spend our time," he said.

Mochtar believed that salary was still a more important factor than the number of work days, "but the government has already implied that it has a limited budget and that it cannot improve the salaries of civil servants." (pwn/yns/11)