Sleman Rejects Central Government's Directive to Implement WFH
The Sleman Regency government has stated that it will not implement the work-from-home (WFH) policy for one day per week for civil servants (ASN), as directed by the central government.
The policy was approached with considerations to maintain the effectiveness of public services at maximum levels.
“I respect the WFH directive, but in the regency area, particularly in Sleman, that policy cannot be optimal. Therefore, we will continue to serve the public as usual,” said Sleman Regent Harda Kiswaya on Wednesday, 1 April 2026.
Harda assessed that, from the perspective of policy and relations between regions and the centre, rejecting WFH might be somewhat inappropriate.
“We only want to optimise services to the public without WFH. If, for example, there are residents who truly need immediate assistance, it would be troublesome (if it’s during WFH),” he said. “There are many factors we considered to serve as usual.”
Harda explained that the decision to reject WFH was not made hastily. It had been discussed with his subordinates, including examining which sectors could implement WFH and which could not.
“We have dialogued with colleagues, and it seems there are almost none that need WFH. If even one implements WFH, it would be troublesome because all services are direct to the public,” he said.
Harda opined that the central government has only examined the WFH policy in general terms without considering regional conditions, whether the policy is relevant or not.
“Many regulations happen like that. Later, residents will ask how Sleman is doing, and we will continue to serve as usual,” he stated.
However, Harda said the situation would differ if the WFH policy were made mandatory. He stated that they would comply if the rule becomes obligatory.
“If it’s mandatory, we will comply. But from the service perspective, we understand that service means serving the public directly,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Yogyakarta Special Region Provincial Government has not yet implemented the WFH policy for its ASN in the near future.
This decision was taken as the regional government still needs to map which Regional Device Organisations (OPD) can implement the work system without disrupting public services.
The Regional Secretary (Sekda) of DIY, Ni Made Dwipanti Indrayanti, explained that WFH implementation cannot be uniformly set at 25 or 50 percent.
“There are many OPDs whose main duties cannot be delegated through information technology systems or digital applications,” she said.
Although the Electronic-Based Government System (SPBE) is currently available, Made emphasised that there is still a portion of the population in the DIY region who cannot fully access the system.
Thus, the DIY Provincial Government still requires time to identify the characteristics of each service, type of OPD, and the number of employees in each agency.
“The discussion process on WFH is still ongoing and awaiting the final draft of the policy plan so that its implementation is more mature,” she said.