[Nulgath]

818 Jakarta civil servants failed to show up at work on 1st day after Eid holiday, all will lose a month’s allowance

Nobody likes going back to work after the holidays, but Indonesian civil servants are especially notorious for failing to show up at the office after the Lebaran break. It’s such a big problem that some, like the mayor of Magelang, have tried rewarding civil servants for showing up to work on the first day after the Eid break, but the Jakarta Government is taking a harsher stance.

The head of Jakarta’s Regional Personnel Agency, Agus Suradika, said that a staggering 818 Jakarta civil servants failed to show up at their offices on Monday, although he said that number included employees who might have had legitimate reasons for not showing up to work such as sudden illness.

Jakarta Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat said that he would sanction all civil servants who were absent by not giving them their Regional Performance Allowance (TKD) for one month. The TKD is the stipend given to government employees to cover miscellaneous costs such as transportation and varies in size depending on the job,

Djarot said such employees should be dealt with harshly, as they had already been given 10 days of holiday over Lebaran. He also said that he would not be lenient on those enabling absenteeism.

“If there is a boss who covers his subordinates who do not come to work, then his boss also hit,” Djarot said as quoted by Tempo.

It seems the stricter rules set up by Djarot’s predecessor, the now jailed Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, have been effective in improving discipline. While 818 is a lot, it’s nothing compared to the 6,072 Jakarta civil servants who failed to show up to work on the first day after the Lebaran break in 2016. So…is there progress?