Idul Fitri, Christmas vacations extended
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government has officially extended the Idul Fitri and Christmas holidays for civil servants for the sake of efficiency and to boost domestic tourism following the Bali bombing.
Minister of Manpower Jacob Nuwa Wea, Minister of Religious Affairs Said Agil Husein Al Munawar and State Minister for Administrative Reform Feisal Tamin signed a joint ministerial decree on Monday obliging all civil servants to take leave one day before and two days after Idul Fitri.
As for Christmas, the decree obligates all civil servants to take one day's leave after the celebration.
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla said after the signing of the joint decree: "The decision applies to all civil servants and private sector firms are advised to follow suit."
The joint ministerial decree also regulates the shifting of national holidays that fall over the weekend to either Friday or Monday to give the people long weekends.
The decree stipulates that public holidays falling on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday would be shifted to Monday, while those falling on Thursday would be shifted to Friday.
Not all public holidays, however, would be shifted to Friday and Monday.
Idul Fitri, Christmas, the New Year, the Muslim Idul Adha day of sacrifice, Hindu day of silence and Independence Day on Aug. 17 would not be shifted even though they fell on a weekend. However, if any of these holidays fell on Sunday, they would be extended to include Monday.
The aim of the extended holidays for Idul Fitri and Christmas as well as the shifting of weekend public holidays to either Friday or Monday is obviously to support the domestic tourism industry, which has been hard hit by the Oct. 12 Bali terror attack.
Speaking on the new holidays for Idul Fitri and Christmas, Kalla said that the extended holidays would be counted as leave for civil servants and would automatically reduce their 12-day annual leave.
"As four days will already have been taken for these holidays, each civil servant will only have eight days of leave for the year," Kalla said.
As for civil servants working in units that needed to remain open during the extended holidays, Kalla said office managers would have to arrange the roster for their respective units.
Besides reviving the domestic tourist industry, Kalla said the extended holidays for civil servants were aimed at improving efficiency as most civil servants skipped a few days before and after Idul Fitri and Christmas anyway.
Minister Jacob Nuwa Wea added that the new regulation on extended holidays for Idul Fitri and Christmas did not apply to private sector companies, but they were encouraged to follow suit.
"Private sector companies are not obligated to follow the regulation, but advised to do so. Should they not be able to do so, they should consult the labor unions," Jacob said.