A file picture of the Johor Baru skyline. - THOMAS YONG/The Star
ISKANDAR PUTERI: A state assemblyman has proposed that Johor implement three rest days instead of two per week.
Nor Rashidah Ismail (BN-Pasir Raja) said that since rest days are different for civil servants, private sector workers and schoolchildren, families cannot have quality time together.
“The standardisation of rest days of all people in Johor is important for their well-being,” she said at the debate on Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar’s address at the state assembly in Kota Iskandar yesterday.
She said countries such as Belgium, Iceland, Scotland, Spain, Japan and the United Arab Emirates practised a four-day work week.
“If productivity is the subject of debate, then I suggest this option where we work full time from Monday to Thursday with an additional hour of working time.
“If working hours were 8am to 5pm before, then the implementation of this proposal would see working hours from 8am to 6pm from Monday to Thursday.
“Then there will be half-day working hours on Friday, which is from 8am to noon where Muslim workers are still able to comfortably perform their Friday prayers,” she added.
Liow Cai Tung (PH-Johor Jaya) urged the state government to hasten its study on the rest day issue so that it can be presented to the Sultan of Johor.
“The state is among the main contributors to the nation’s economy. Standardising rest days with private entities will enhance productivity, efficiency and Johor’s tourism sector,” she said during the debate.
On June 14, Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said the state government would review the state’s rest days, which currently fall on Fridays and Saturdays, so that parents and their children could have their days off at the same time.
In 2013, Sultan Ibrahim declared the change of the state’s rest days to Fridays and Saturdays instead of Saturdays and Sundays.
The change of weekend has been imposed in the state since Jan 1, 2014.
