THE MAHARASHTRA government on Wednesday announced five-day working week for most of its employees from February 29. While Saturdays and Sundays will be holidays, the employees will have to work for 45 minutes extra the rest of the five days. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/maharashtra-government-employees-five-day-work-week-february-29-6265293/ The decision, modelled on the lines of the Union government and certain states, was taken at a meeting of the state Cabinet. There are over 20 lakh employees in government, semi-government and local bodies in the state.
The new rules, however, will not be applicable on officials who come under the ambit of Factories Act or Industrial Disputes Act. Also, employees working in government schools and colleges, hospitals, police and fire brigade have been excluded, as they are required for essential services. The president of Maharashtra State Gazetted Officers Association, G D Kulthe, said around 15 lakh employees are set to benefit from the new rule. Till now, apart from a holiday on Sunday, government employees got additional weekly offs on the second and fourth Saturdays of every month. “Now, officials will be able to give time to their families… improve their quality of life. It will also help the state save some money on administrative and logistics expenses like electricity, petrol and diesel, as the offices would remain shut on Saturdays,” an official from the general administration department said. The move comes a week after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray met with members of the Maharashtra State Gazetted Officers Association, who raised the issue with him. Sources said that the five-day week was enforced in the state in 1985. Subsequently, the Centre’s Fourth Pay Commission in 1986 had recommended that weekly working hours be increased to 40 hours. “The Union government had then revised the office timings from 9.30 am to 6 pm, increasing office timings by 45 minutes every day. But employee associations had opposed the move. So, the five-day week plan was shelved in 1988,” a senior official said. Since then, government offices in Mumbai function from 9.45 am to 5.30 pm. Outside Mumbai, the offices function from 10 am to 5.45 pm. From February 29, the offices would be functional from 9.45 am to 6.15 pm. Also, with the new rules, the total number of working days will come down from 288 to 264. The total working hours will, however, increase from 2,088 hours to 2,112 hours, along with an additional 24 hours. Apart from the Centre, governments of Rajasthan, Bihar, Punjab, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal follow the five-day week norm. -- सादर/ Regards अविनाश शाही/ Avinash Shahi सहायक/ Assistant मानव संसाधन प्रबंध विभाग/ Human Resource Management Department भारतीय रिजर्व बैंक/ Reserve Bank of India लखनऊ क्षेत्रीय कार्यालय/Lucknow RO विस्तार/ Extension: 2232 Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
