Five-day-work week proposal widely praised

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)