
The Supreme Court (SC) revised its four-day workweek at 10 hours daily after the work schedule “has caused inconvenience to many employees” and “is counter-productive.”
Thus, the SC said that starting Monday, April 4, the four-day work week will only be for eight hours daily – from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. -- for employees working from Monday to Thursday and for those reporting from Tuesday to Friday.
The remaining one day will be a work from home arrangement for employees, stated the memorandum order issued by Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo on Wednesday, March 30.
The SC, Court of Appeals (CA), Sandiganbayan and the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) started last Monday, March 28, a four-day workweek at 10 hours daily.
It was not known immediately if the CA, Sandiganbayan and the CTA would also revise its four-day workweek operation in line with the SC’s announced modification.
Chief Justice Gesmundo’s March 30 memorandum maintain its earlier order that certain offices in the SC -- like the security and maintenance division, medical and dental service, Office of the Bar Confidant, Fiscal Management and Budget Office, Fiscal Management Office of OCA, and Office of Administrative Services of OCA – are not covered by the four-day workweek and their personnel have to report onsite from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday “as the nature of their work may not be performed from home and oftentimes require overtime.”
SC justices will determine “the number and schedule of their staff who will be required to report for work onsite in their respective chambers, and Chiefs of Offices/Services and their assistants shall determine who among them and among their personnel/staff will be included in each group, which may be on a rotation basis,” the memorandum also stated.