Over 500 civil servants get sanction for going AWOL

Over 500 civil servants get sanction for going AWOL

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

At least 557 civil servants who were absent without leave on the
first two days of work after the long Idul Fitri holiday will
receive punishment, including demotion, a city official says.

"The gravest punishment, that is demotion, will be handed down
to those who have gone AWOL in two consecutive years, while
others will receive milder punishment, that is delayed
promotion," City Audit Agency head Firman Hutajulu announced at
City Hall on Wednesday.

The city administration declared Nov. 2 to Nov. 8 an official
holiday week to allow city officials to celebrate Idul Fitri,
which fell on Nov. 3 and Nov. 4, with their families.

Many officials, however, did not show up when they were
expected to return to work on Nov. 9.

Firman said his agency was comparing a list of absent civil
servants with last year's list in order to identify defiant
personnel.

He said his office would hopefully finish compiling a list of
truant civil servants by Friday, adding that he estimated that 30
percent of them would be demoted.

Governor Sutiyoso said earlier that civil servants who were
absent without leave after the holiday had to be punished as they
had failed to present a good image to the people they served.

"I won't tolerate their absences, except those who called in
sick, as they had already enjoyed a full week's holiday,"
Sutiyoso said previously.

Sutiyoso made impromptu checks at city agencies on the first
day of work and found that many civil servants either came late
or had failed to show up at their offices altogether.

Meanwhile, the assistant to the city secretary for
administrative affairs, Moerdiman, revealed that aside from the
absent civil servants, 1,181 workers arrived late at their
offices on the first day back at work, while another 435 came
late on the second day.

"They will only be admonished by their supervisors," Moerdiman
said.

He quoted Government Regulation No. 30/1980 on civil servants,
which stipulates that a civil servant is only to be reprimanded
for turning up late at their workplace.

"For truancy, officers should see an up to one-year delay in
regular promotion, while those who were absent two years in a row
will be demoted by one rank," he said.

There are more than 29,000 civil servants in the Jakarta
administration, excluding teachers at state schools and non-
permanent staff at city agencies.

Last year, the Jakarta Audit Agency said 874 civil servants
had failed to appear in their offices on the first days of work
after the holiday, but the administration did not issue a report
on the punishment handed down to them, or announce if there was
any punishment.

Amid skepticism that demotion is just an empty threat,
Moerdiman was adamant that his office was serious about
instilling discipline in civil servants.

"We are serious. The last time we demoted a city officer was
two years ago for skipping work (after the holiday) for two
consecutive years," he said.

Sutiyoso removed Jakarta Parks Agency head Maurits Napitupulu
from his position in 2003 after he was found absent without
leave. Maurits was replaced by Sarwo Handhayani.

Last year, Sutiyoso did not carry out checks at city agencies.
Instead, he assigned a joint team from the City Audit Agency and
the City Human Resources Agency to carry out inspections.