A HOUSE lawmaker has urged the government to adopt the four-day workweek scheme being proposed by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and seeks for its nationwide implementation, particularly to the agencies, which have no frontline functions.
Davao City Representative Karlo Nograles said the scheme, if applied nationwide, will resolve the traffic problem in Metro Manila.
The chairman of the House committee on labor said the four-day workweek scheme could also translate to billions worth of energy savings.
"I think that this option should be also provided to government offices outside of Metro Manila especially in Mindanao where there is a serious energy problem," Nograles said.
The CSC has recently approved an "optional" four-day workweek scheme for government offices in Metro Manila purposely to address the worsening traffic problem.
Employees covered by the scheme will be required to work from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., taking an hour off for their lunch break.
Nograles noted that only government offices that has no direct interaction with the public and those with no emergency functions should have the option to report to work only four days a week.
The lawmaker said that government workers such as teachers, licensing and permits personnel, policemen and firemen should continue to function under their original work schedules.
"I think that government units do not directly deal with our people or those that doesn't directly affect the delivery of public service should consider adopting this four-day workweek scheme as approved by the CSC. This should apply not only to Metro Manila but in other areas as well especially in Mindanao, which is reeling from severe energy shortage," Nograles added.
He said that apart from helping solve Metro Manila's traffic problems, the four-day workweek scheme would also reduce the government's energy needs and help avert a full-blown energy crisis, which has prompted President Benigno Aquino III to ask Congress for emergency powers.
He said that a small government office, which uses airconditioning units, lights, computers and other office equipment and appliance that feeds on electricity, can save as much as P15,000 on electric bills.
"We will reduce our overall energy demand, save billions in electric bills and we will be saving the planet by reducing our carbon emission," Nograles said.
The lawmaker from Davao City added that apart from solving the traffic problem and reducing the country's energy demand, the four-day workweek scheme would also ease the burden of many government workers who are generally overworked and underpaid.
He said that since it is voluntary and optional, "there must be adequate consultations done with government workers before an office decides to adopt the four-day workweek scheme." (Sunnex)