Prioritise those with young children when enforcing remote working, says Cuepacs

PETALING JAYA: Civil servants with young children should be given priority when it comes to implementing the Work From Home (WFH) ruling, says the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs).

Cuepacs president Adnan Mat said other than this group of civil servants, priority should also be given to those whose spouses are frontliners, be it in the public or private sectors, throughout the entire conditional movement control order (MCO) period.

He said department heads must also reschedule duties of staff allowed to work from the office or in the field.

"This is to ensure that delivery to the rakyat is not affected during the MCO period.

"There should also be rotation of staff under the WFH order and those working in the field based on the needs of the department to avoid difficulties to their staff," he said in a statement on Wednesday (Oct 21).

Adnan also said department heads must also ensure that those in the administrative and management levels, who are not required to be in the field or office, are selected for the WFH order.

"This can be done through a rotation or permanent basis so their presence at the office can be optimised to about 30% (of the headcount)," he added.

He noted that civil servants would not face much difficulties in adapting to the WHF order, as this has been done during the MCO in March.

Adnan advised the public to reschedule their visits to government offices if possible to avoid overcrowding during this period.

On Wednesday (Oct 21), Public Service Department director- general Tan Sri Mohd Khairul Adib Abd Rahman announced in a statement that public sector offices have been allowed a maximum of 30% of staff to be physically present from Thursday (Oct 22).

Mohd Khairul said the decision was made to ensure that the services at the respective agencies will not be affected, and can continue to be accessed by the public based on the respective ministries', agencies' and department's customer charter.

When announcing the WFH order on Tuesday (Oct 20), Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said those who are to work from home beginning Oct 22 until the conditional MCO is lifted in Selangor, Sabah, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan are mainly those in the management and supervisory posts.

This decision will involve 800,000 workers in various industries, as well as close to 200,000 civil servants.

International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali said in a statement on Wednesday (Oct 21) that no more than 10% of those in management and supervisory posts are allowed to work on site.