Nigerian Governor Announces Transition to 4-Day Working Week for Workers, Gives Reasons
- Starting from December 1, public servants in Kaduna state will only go to work for four days and work from home on Friday
- The Kaduna state government said the move is to boost workers' productivity and ensure they have more time to rest and to get involved in agriculture
- School teachers and health workers are, however, not included in the four-day working week being introduced in the northwestern state
Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, Kaduna - Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state has approved a a four-day working week for public servants.
Muyiwa Adekeye, the special adviser to the governor on media and communication, made this known in a statement on Monday, November 29.
Source: Facebook
The governor explained that the move is part of his administration's plan to boost productivity among workers, improve work-life balance and enable them to have more time for their families, for rest and for agriculture.
In the interim, the public servants, apart from teachers and health workers, will work from Monday to Thursday at the office and work from home on Friday.
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The statement read partly:
"The Kaduna State Government will commence a transition to a four-day working week in the state. In the interim, it will permit public servants to work from home for one day per week. This measure is designed to help boost productivity, improve work-life balance and enable workers to have more time for their families, for rest and for agriculture.
"The measure also reflects lessons learnt from managing the Covid-19 pandemic which required significant relaxations of old working traditions and the ascendance of virtual and remote working arrangements."
Transition takes effect from December 1
According to the Kaduna state government, the implementation of the four-day working week will begin on Wednesday, December 1.
From that date, working hours for public servants are adjusted to 8am-5pm, Monday to Friday.
However, all public servants, other than those in schools and healthcare facilities, will work from home on Fridays.
The Kaduna state government explained that the interim working arrangement will subsist until the government is ready to move to the next stage of the transition which will culminate in the four-day week across all MDAs in the state.
Emergency services, education and health systems not included
The statement further noted that the current arrangement does not involve workers providing emergency services and those in the health and education sectors.
It added that senior officials are working on detailed guidelines to ensure that the emergency services and the education and health systems in the state continue to deliver services 24 hours a day, seven days a week during the transition and beyond.
The state government also promised to ramp up its efforts to give public servants access to digital devices and platforms to enable them work effectively from home
It added that the required legal and regulatory framework to back the new arrangement will be in place by January 2022.
The Kaduna government is also expecting the organised private sector to engage with the process and agree a longer transition period to a four-day working week.
Nigerians react
Commenting on the Kaduna government's initiative on Facebook, Funmi Adewola said:
"Good initiative no doubt.
"However, I hope there are measures built into this to see the impact on the state economy, food production sustainability, etc. Well done ✅"
Musa Salisu Anchau said:
"Road to 2023
"This is not what we're expecting from your administration, seriously i like your administration sir but what I hated is this tuition fee of Kaduna state university.
"You have to do something about it."
Mohammed Ukashetu Haruna said:
"Kudos your Excellency, pls look into the plight of the primary school teachers you employed,,most of them are owed salaries of 13-14mnths (i.e. Soba local govt). Use your good office to intervene."
Yonny Chiromah said:
"Civil service is dead on arrival. after all what is even their contribution to Nigeria's economy. if they like let them stay at home forever."
El-Rufai, Kaduna teachers head for showdown over competency test
In other news, teachers in Kaduna state and the governor of the state, El-Rufai, have continued to have a running battle over the planned competency test by the state government.
Governor El-Rufai had scheduled a competency test for the teachers in Kaduna to verify their qualifications for the positions they occupy in the state.
However, the national executive council of the Nigeria Union Teacher (NUT) has called on members of the union to shun the test.
Source: Legit.ng
