Regarding WFH, Bandung City Government Follows Central Government Policy
The Bandung City Government is ready to follow the central government’s policy regarding plans for work from home (WFH) one day per week for civil servants. The policy is planned by the government to save fuel oil (BBM) as an impact of the conflict in the Middle East that disrupts the world’s oil supply, including to Indonesia.
Bandung Mayor Muhammad Farhan yesterday stated that the Bandung City Government is still awaiting implementation instructions (juklak) and technical guidelines (juknis) for applying the policy. Until the juklak and juknis are available, civil servants in the Bandung City Government will continue working as usual. “The City Government is just waiting; I won’t act like I know better, so we’re just waiting. The principle is this: if the juklak and juknis haven’t been issued, then (Bandung City Government civil servants) work as usual,” he said.
According to Farhan, currently some civil servants in the Bandung City Government are implementing work from anywhere (WFA) to ease the return flow during the Eid holiday period. However, many civil servants are already working as usual. “Now the status is clear. Based on instructions from the Minister of Home Affairs, there is work from anywhere. But like me, I’ve been going to the office since Wednesday. However, on Monday it will still be full as usual; there’s no WFH yet,” he explained.
Previously, Farhan mentioned that the Bandung City Government has not yet decided on which day to implement WFH for civil servants. Farhan will first assess the situation before issuing a decision, including policies for schoolchildren. “The provincial government suggests WFA every Thursday, while the central government suggests Friday. We are still monitoring the situation, including considering whether schools need to implement distance learning (PJJ),” he clarified.
Farhan added that the policy could impact fuel and energy savings. The energy crisis heavily depends on the central government. Until now, Pertamina has guaranteed that fuel supplies are still safe and there are no signs of increases in subsidised fuel prices.
On the other hand, Bandung City Secretary Iskandar Zulkarnain stated that the WFH proposal has so far only been conveyed verbally by the central government. “We are still waiting for juknis from the centre, because this has only been conveyed orally,” he said.
Nevertheless, Iskandar assured that the Bandung City Government has prepared a work scheme to remain aligned with public service needs if the policy is officially implemented. “We have already prepared; we just need to adjust to the central regulations later,” he explained.
Iskandar emphasised that WFH implementation must still pay attention to the quality of public services, which must not be disrupted by the policy. In principle, public services must continue to run optimally. That is the priority. In addition, the Bandung City Government will also conduct further evaluations regarding the WFH implementation day if the policy has been officially set by the central government.
“We’ll see later whether it’s Friday, Monday, or Tuesday; we will evaluate according to needs,” he said. Apart from that, we welcome it if the central government’s WFH scheme is implemented on Friday, as it has the potential to increase tourist visits to Bandung City. If it’s WFH on Friday, people can come to Bandung earlier. This will certainly have a positive impact,” he added.