CSC details requirements for 4-day work week scheme

The four-day work week scheme for government employees in Metro Manila has been approved in a bid to help ease the worsening traffic situation.

Under the new scheme, government offices in Metro Manila can implement a Monday to Thursday or Tuesday to Friday work schedule, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., with an hour off for lunch break.

Government offices may choose to start implementing the four-day work week scheme next week.

What should the government office do to qualify?

However, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) clarified that government offices have to meet some requirements first before they can implement the new scheme.

Speaking to radio dzMM on Saturday, CSC Public Information Office director Liza Agamata said front line services of government offices must be made accessible to the public through the Internet.

“Kung minsan po ang ating transacting public ay magwo-walk in sa opisina para humingi ng information para magtanong kung ano ang mga proseso nila. Yun po [dapat] pwede ma-access online,” she said.

Government offices should also have a “one-stop shop,” she added. “Hindi dapat maaapektuhan yung quality at quantity ng front line service.”

She said offices should also have a functional call center wherein the officers of the day must be capable of responding to all the queries of the callers in relation to transactions.

She said government offices should also have baseline data on the performance of all their employees.

“Ang focus po nito is better public service. Yun po yung mahalaga diyan. Kung kami po ay nakatanggap ng complaint in writing or through the contact center ng bayan of the Civil Service Commission, madali po naming i-revoke yung authority,” Agamata said.

Agamata, meanwhile, clarified that the new work scheme is not mandatory to government offices.

MMDA weighs in

The head of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Friday welcomed a proposal to implement the four-day work week in government offices.

In a statement, MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said the four-day work week will help ease the worsening traffic situation in Metro Manila due to the simultaneous construction of major infrastructure projects.

“The scheme will be beneficial to the public as it will redound to lesser volume of commuters, pedestrians and volume of vehicles in our road networks,” he said.

Under the new scheme, government offices in Metro Manila can voluntarily implement it from Tuesday to Friday or Monday to Thursday.

Following the approval of the four-day work scheme, the MMDA will now buckle down to study thoroughly the implementation of the scheme in the agency to ensure that it should be in compliance with the Civil Service Commission rules and regulations.