Pramono Bans Jakarta Civil Servants from Working from Cafes during Friday WFH: Strict Sanctions Apply!

Governor of DKI Jakarta, Pramono Anung, has issued a strong warning to Civil Servants (ASN) within the DKI Provincial Government. Pramono has strictly prohibited ASN from working from cafes or other public places while implementing the Work From Home (WFH) policy every Friday.

“Regarding working from cafes or anywhere else, if that happens, there will definitely be firm sanction actions for it,” Pramono stated, quoted from Antara on Wednesday (1/4).

The former Cabinet Secretary emphasised that the essence of WFH is not the freedom to work from any location in an uncontrolled manner. He urged all ASN to remain at their respective homes in accordance with the applicable provisions. Regarding sanctions for violators, Pramono gave a sharp warning signal.

“Basically, sanctions. If previously they were guided, now they will be ‘destroyed’,” he stressed half-jokingly but seriously.

This WFH policy every Friday is a follow-up to the central government’s directives. Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Airlangga Hartarto, previously explained that the choice of Friday is based on the relatively lighter workload compared to other days.

“The busyness level on that day is not as high as on weekdays, even in many agencies it only runs about half of the daily workload,” Airlangga revealed.

In addition, this policy adopts practices from several ministries that have begun implementing a four-day workweek pattern with the support of digital systems post-Covid-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, Airlangga assured that the public services sector and strategic sectors will continue to operate normally without disruption.

Even while working from home, Jakarta’s ASN cannot relax. The DKI Provincial Government through the Regional Civil Service Agency (BKD) still requires mobile attendance integrated with a location monitoring system (geofencing). This is done to ensure that ASN personnel continue to carry out their duties even if not physically present at the office.

The Work From Home (WFH) policy one day per week that will be implemented by the government is expected not to reduce employee performance and public services.