Five-day work week to require regular performance evaluations

JAKARTA (JP): The level of productivity of civil servants should be evaluated regularly when civil servants go to a five- day work week next year, a City Council deputy chairman said yesterday.

"The results of the evaluations could be later used to determine future provincial administration plans to further enhance the performance of their employees," H. Ismunandar said.

He said this method could detect and later help adjust weak points discovered in the working mechanism.

Ismunandar expressed guarded optimism that the decision could actually reach its intended goal, that is to increase the level of productivity on the part of civil servants as well as to tighten the state budget, particularly with regard to the use of electricity, water and telephone lines.

"I'm pretty sure that the employees will be more physically fit, feel more fresh and be mentally more prepared when they start working again on Mondays, having enjoyed two days of rest on the weekend," he said. "This will subsequently contribute a great deal to efforts to enhance their working performances and increase the level of their productivity at work."

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

But Silalahi said that not all government agencies will introduce the program, especially those involved in public services, including civil servants working at airports, harbors or railways stations.

The minister said in the first phase the offices will introduce the long weekend program once a month. The frequency will be gradually increased until civil servants are allowed to have Saturdays and Sundays off every week.

Support

The decision has been generally hailed with enthusiasm by various quarters. Most have said each employee will have more time to engage in activities on Saturdays and Sundays. Efficiency in social services is also expected to improve and the government will gain substantial savings on electricity, water and telephone bills.

"It goes without saying that the program will have a lot of advantages for both the civil servants and the government alike," said Harun Al Rasyid, the secretary of the municipal administration. "The government has made the right decision."

However, despite all the positive responses to the decision, reservations about the plan were expressed by several experts.

Prabowo, a member of the Indonesian Institute for Management Development, is of the opinion that the program will not significantly improve productivity and efficiency in the workplace.

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

He said there are other more relevant and effective methods of increasing productivity that the government could supervise and change.

He said one of the methods is to raise salaries of civil servants in order to narrow the wide gap between the earnings of private business employees and those of civil servants. (bas)