The Administrative and Bureaucratic Reforms Ministry issues a circular declaring a policy that allows flexible work from home or work from anywhere arrangements for civil servants ahead of the Nyepi and Idul Fitri holidays in late March.
he government declared a nationwide work from anywhere (WFA) policy for civil servants from March 24 to 27, or the week before the Islamic holiday of Idul Fitri at the end of the month.
The policy, stipulated in a circular issued by the administrative and bureaucratic reforms minister signed on Wednesday, aims to reduce potential traffic congestion ahead of the national holidays of Nyepi (Hindu Day of Silence) and Idul Fitri.
Nyepi will fall on March 28, while the first day of Idul Fitri is expected to fall on March 31, pending the moon sighting.
In the circular, the reforms minister allows heads of government institutions to be flexible in adjusting the work from office (WFO) and remote working arrangements to from home or anywhere for their employees.
The minister warned that the adjustment should be done without sacrificing access to essential public services, such as health, public transportation and security services. The institutions should also pay attention to services for vulnerable groups, such as elderly, pregnant women and people with disabilities.
Read also: Govt to cut domestic airfares by up to 14% for Idul Fitri
In January, Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi met with Home Minister Tito Karnavian to talk about the possibility of introducing a WFA policy for civil servants, as an attempt to mitigate potential traffic congestion during the short gap between the Nyepi and Idul Fitri holidays in late March.
The transportation minister has also been urging private companies to impose the remote working policy for their employees.
The government also recently announced a change to the Idul Fitri school breaks. An earlier regulation stipulated that the break would start on March 24, but the policy has been revised, mandating a school break from March 21 to April 8.
“Hopefully, the longer breaks can help prevent traffic from piling up at one particular time during the mudik [exodus] period,” Coordinating Human Development and Cultural Affairs Minister Pratikno said on Wednesday, as quoted by Kompas.
The Transportation Ministry estimated that 146 million people, or 52 percent of the country’s total population, would embark on homebound travel for the Idul Fitri holiday, with more than half of the travels from or in Java Island, the country’s most populous island.
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