Palace not keen on proposed 4-day work week

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang is not keen on supporting proposals for a four-day work week in order to save on energy.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the proposal needs careful study as he recalled that a similar exercise had been tried in previous years under this administration.

While he acknowledged that there are benefits to the proposal, such as the reduction in the consumption of electricity, there are also some “realities” that have to be considered with the implementation of a four-day work week.

Bunye pointed out that there is a 40-hour work week law and so if the four-day work week is implemented, then government employees would have to adjust their work hours by clocking in one hour earlier and going home one hour later.

He said that the previous trial of the four-day work week as advocated by then Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla resulted in several employees raising numerous concerns.

As an example, Bunye cited the complaints of the employees who live far from their offices and who have to bring their children to school before going to work.

Bunye said that there was also an indication that productivity of the employees was affected because of the long hours at work.

“This is something that has to be seriously studied,” he said.

A number of congressmen have been pushing the government to consider the proposal for the bureaucracy.

Some 2.7 million out of the Philippines’ 33.7 million-strong labor force work for the government or state corporations, according to the National Statistics Office.

Congressmen said the proposal was a way to address the rising cost of oil and conserve electricity.

Both the Senate and the House have implemented the four-day work week and proponents said it has been proven to work.

Car pooling was also encouraged to help motorists save on gas.

A Presidential Task Force on Energy Contingency has been created to consolidate and coordinate the country’s energy conservation measures and come up with short-term and long-term plans to cope with rapidly rising oil prices.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, who heads the Task Force, said that Cabinet members would set an example by cutting down on their fuel consumption.

Among other related proposals, Ermita said switching the government’s vehicle fleet to diesel-fueled vehicles from gasoline-fed would save P1.44 billion a year in fuel costs. 

A government task force formed by President Arroyo to craft an action plan to mitigate high fuel costs would discuss specific proposals at their next meeting on Monday, he added. – Marvin Sy