KUALA LUMPUR: Former Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) deputy president II Zainal Ismail said the current five-day workweek is sufficient to enhance civil servants' performance, in line with the increase in wages.
He described the proposed 4.5day work week as irrelevant, particularly given the current number of public holidays.
"In the past, we had a 5.5-day work week, where we worked half-days on Saturdays.
"The proposed 4.5-day work week is unsuitable considering the number of public holidays. We aim to improve civil servants' performance, aligning it with the rise in wages.
"It is inappropriate to have high wages while limiting our service hours," he said.
Johoreans, state civil servants and an economist have welcomed the state government's proposal.
A civil servant from Skudai said the proposal would be beneficial for many state civil servants, particularly for those who are involved in repetitive tasks and dealing with the public daily.
He said it would provide a work-life balance with additional rest hours and time to be spent with family. This would serve as a motivation booster to increase their productivity.
"Working in this line of service would challenge their mental and emotional wellbeing (by dealing with the public constantly), so additional rest would be sufficient to help them to recover," he told the New Straits Times.
Another civil servant from Iskandar Puteri who preferred not to be named welcomed the move as he believed the proposal should allow them to work from 8am until 12pm on Friday by omitting the afternoon break.
He believed this move would allow the civil servants to wholly focus on their tasks before leaving the office.
It would also benefit the Muslim men to spend their afternoon and evening for the Friday prayers.
"By doing that, Muslim men in Johor do not have to rush back to the office to ensure that they would be able to serve the public on time," he said.
Last month, Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim announced that Johor will revert to weekend off days on Saturday and Sunday starting Jan 1 from the current Friday and Saturday.
Many Johoreans also shared their support for the proposal as long as it would not affect the services provided by the government agencies in the state.
Afiq Ariff, 29, from Kulai said the proposal was interesting b ecause the government services would be digitalised as promised by the menteri besar.
"Onn did state that many aspects (government services) will be digitalised which will be a plus point in flexibility for both parties; the government agencies and the general public."
Both Low Wei Xuan, 32, from Segamat and Abdul Majid Abd Aziz, 31, from Kluang agreed if the state government could ensure that despite reduced working hours, service delivery could be enhanced, then the public would not hesitate to accept the proposal.
Low said despite its app eal, the proposal might not augur well with the older generations as they still prefer to obtain government services directly at the counters.
"So, I hope the government would also consider this factor in formulating the new policy."
Sunway University economics professor Dr Yeah Kim Leng labelled the proposal as 'progressive' which he likened to other working arrangements that became popular post-Covid-19 such as working from home and flexible working hours.
He believed the state government's proposal would boost civil servants' productivity, citing successful work-life balance initiatives worldwide.
"With digitalisation, the public could enjoy the government services 24 hours. Thus, if the initiative is a success, it could also be extended to the private sector," Yeah said.