Working hours

Working hours

From Kompas

Recently the government issued a Presidential Decree Keppres
No. 68/1995 concerning the new working hours for government
institutions. The decree stipulates that government offices open
at 7:30 (it used to be 8:00). This new time schedule is hard for
the civil servants, particularly those who work in Jakarta.

As we all know, with the continuous growth of office buildings
in Jakarta, many office workers choose to live outside Jakarta.
They have to travel one to two hours to get to their place of
work by public transportation. This means that the civil servants
have to leave home much earlier without caring for breakfast. The
situation is even worse for a working couple.

The first thing the employees do as soon as they arrive at the
office is to get something to eat in the office canteen or food
stalls nearby. They obviously have to increase their budget for
meals, while their salaries remain the same. Under these
circumstances, in all probability, their work ethic will further
decline.

Bearing this situation in mind, it would wise for the
government to review the office time schedule in Jakarta. The old
practice (8:00 to 16:30) is more convenient, with a break of 45
minutes for lunch.

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