'Lebaran' holidays

'Lebaran' holidays

From Pikiran Rakyat

After reading Kang Atang Ruswita's letter about "Lebaran" holidays on Feb. 14, 1997, I came to the conclusion that neither Ayi, who brought up the holiday matter, nor Akang who commented on it, were aware of the holiday regulations pertaining to Civil Service and State Company employees.

There are several holiday categories, for instance: annual leave, sick leave, maternity leave, special leave (because of sickness or death in the family), and others, based on established rules.

Employees are entitled to 12 days annual leave after more than one year of service. This leave can be taken in parts if the applicant's request for leave has been approved by management. Management has the right to postpone the requested leave for a few days or reject it altogether. The applicant is then entitled to file a new request at a later date.

I am appealing to the public and the mass media to understand and respect the rights of government employees, whose leave regulations have been drawn up by the Indonesian government. This is why those on vacation, approved by their department chiefs, were not in their offices. The employees do not need to be reprimanded because their requests had been approved before.

As for the government, in this case department chiefs handling payments, or, fines (example: the fresh water counter (PDAM) in the Margahayu Raya complex), I would like to appeal to them: If a certain counter is not able to service payments because the respective official is on leave, it might help if a clear announcement was made about the re-opening date of the counter. And if, for this reason, payment deadlines can not be met by customers, respite for the delay should be made. A delayed deadline should be given in such cases and late fines subsequently canceled at a later date.

I hope my analysis may become food for thought for the respective parties.

R.T. HARSONO

Bandung, West Java