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New working hours plan abandoned

18 Jul 2020

. No change from August onwards . Govt. heeds private sector opposition ---------------------------- By The Sunday Morning Business Desk The new working hours proposed to the private sector from 9.45 a.m. to 6.45 p.m., which was set to come into effect from August, will not be implemented by the Government, The Sunday Morning Business reliably learns. Our sources indicated that the Government has abandoned the plan in the face of opposition from the business community, especially with regard to the female labour force. However, when contacted for confirmation, Minister of Skills Development, Employment, and Labour Relations Dinesh Gunawardena said that the proposed new hours would not be made mandatory for any company, but denied that the plan was abandoned. “Nothing has been abandoned; there has always been flexibility that has been allowed in order to see that the economy gets back to normal,” he stated. He added that the revision in working hours was a plan devised when the Government was in the process of opening up the corporate sector after the lifting the lockdown as they were concerned over maintaining the social distance and health regulations among the crowds. Nevertheless, now that the situation has “normalised”, Gunawardena stated that the working hours too could be moved back to the normal schedule. Therefore, companies that have chosen to work as per the working hours can continue to do so while other companies are allowed to adopt flexible work time schedules. Private companies and even state officials were specifically concerned about female employees having to travel at night after leaving the office at 6.45 p.m. On 30 June 2020, Minister of Transport Services Management Mahinda Amaraweera introduced changes to Sri Lanka’s private sector and public sector work hours, following consultations with relevant stakeholders. Accordingly, state sector office hours were from 9 a.m. to 4.45 p.m. while private sector work hours were from 9.45 a.m. to 6.45 p.m. Based on these new changes, state sector employees have to work seven hours and 45 minutes a day while private sector employees have to work nine hours a day. The changes were expected to come into effect from August onwards upon the approval of the Cabinet. Office hours were revised with the objective of aiding in maintaining the physical distance so as to prevent the spread of Covid-19, avoid traffic congestion, and improve efficiency and productivity of both the public and private services. However, the proposed revision has been receiving negative feedback since being introduced. In a letter to Minister Gunawardena, the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) on 1 July 2020 requested the relevant authorities to consult the private sector organisations that represent employers prior to arriving into any conclusion with regard to private sector working hours. “As you are aware, establishments in the private sector usually operate from 8.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. In addition, employees are also rostered to work on shift basis, including night shift. Similarly, working in agri/plantation sector – which are mainly field based – operates based on industry norms. In doing so, employees are not only required to comply with labour laws, but also be considerate with regard to ‘work-life’ balance of employees, particularly of working women (sic),” EFC Director General Kanishka Weerasinghe stated in the letter. He added that in as much as they are also mindful of the need to conserve fuel and align operations to suit public transport requirements, they are firmly of the view that employers in the private sector should be allowed to determine working hours in their establishments depending on the nature of operations. The letter further said that a failure to arrive at a mutual decision with regard to working hours in consultation with private sector organisations would result in lower efficiency and productivity of employees as well as disharmony at workplaces due to employees being inconvenienced. Meanwhile, two weeks ago, speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, National Chamber of Exports (NCE) President Ramal Jasinghe stated that it is a bit unfair of them (the Government) to introduce long working hours only for the private sector. He also questioned the effect on work-life balance and women’s safety. Ceylon National Chamber of Industries (CNCI) immediate past Chairman Raja Hewabowala told us that the new change is too much for the private sector to handle as it is used to traditional yet rigid working hours for decades now. His main concern was security issues.


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