CUEPACS: Studies on 4-day work week a waste of time and resources, govt should focus on important issues

Malaysia is not ready for a four-day working week yet, says the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public Service (CUEPACS).

In a statement, CUEPACS president Datuk Adnan Mat said the government would only be wasting resources and time if it intended to conduct a feasibility study on the matter.

He then called on the government to focus on more essential employment issues involving workers’ welfare and salaries that have yet to be resolved by the government and employers.

“The resources and time that the government needs to use to study the feasibility of the four working days a week should be used to fix the current situation plaguing civil servants affected by low wage issues and other welfare matters,” Adnan said.

“With the rising cost of living, of course, matters related to the improvement of the public service delivery system as well as the welfare of civil servants must be given priority,” he added.

Last Thursday (30 June), the Public Service Department (JPA) said it had set up a special team to study the implementation of a 4-day working week following a request for a thorough analysis from various parties.

JPA director-general Datuk Seri Mohd Shafiq Abdullah said the study will also look at other aspects of the civil service.

He also said the study would look at the implementation of the working period and the total working hours in a day.

Meanwhile, Adnan said the government had announced many things for the civil servants but none of them was implemented.

He said among the matters are the implementation of the minimum wage through the new remuneration system, early redemption of leave replacement and promotion on a ‘time based’ basis, shortened previously.

At the same time, Adnan also asked all civil servants to maintain excellent performance in their respective services and not lose focus in facing the issue of the implementation of 4-working days a week.

“Cuepacs hopes that the top management in the civil service can maintain harmony among the staff by complying with existing service regulations.”

“Any decision related to human resources should be made based on existing regulations to avoid loss of human capital,” he said.