EDITORIAL - Not so fast with this flexible work idea

It is not clear what senator Joel Villanueva seeks to achieve with his flexible work arrangement bill other than to allow workers the right to determine how they intend to work out the 48 hours maximum they are supposed to work in a week. What he does not realize is that his bill, if passed into law, will disturb something that has worked perfectly for so long in favor of something the consequences of which the whole nation may regret later.

Look, there is wisdom in the saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” It is a saying that has been there long before Villanueva was born and will probably be there long after he is gone. A saying is not a saying if it does not speak the truth because in the end only the truth matters. And no saying best applies to the bill of Villanueva than this one.

There is a reason why existing work schedules are what they are. And there is a reason why such work schedules have remained what they are for a very long time and probably will for even longer unless this folly of an experiment gets the better of Congress and passes. The potential for mischief in this bill far outweighs any potential benefit Villanueva must have seen in a dream.

Granting workers the right to determine their own work schedules will throw everything into chaos - from the work environment, to schools, markets, travel, religious services, traffic and everything else that is part of what we call the business of living. Where there used to be harmony and unity, there will be divisions and acrimony.

Under existing work schedules, it is the workers who make adjustments to their lives. Once the adjustments have been made, everything else follows. Workers have come to accept that. And so far, the world has not turned upside down. That is because there is a sense of order and discipline in the existing scheme of things. Allowing workers to determine their own work preferences will upset all of those.

A company can actually be ripped apart the moment it allows its workers to work as they please because no two workers may have the same preference. Company goals will be missed, production targets will fall short, and orders will be unmet. The sound byte of the Villanueva bill is titillating - flexible hours - wow. What worker will not be mesmerized by the thought of him working as he pleases. In reality, a worker will not know what hit him. He could lose the job he wants easy.