Fresh lease of life
Today I begin the first day of my first five-day working week in the civil service. It was a pleasant surprise when Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen announced the plan a few months ago. I immediately asked myself: What should I do with the extra time off?
Not having to work on Saturday mornings will make a real difference to my life, and to my colleagues' lives. Previously we worked on Saturday every two weeks, and that limited our activities a lot. For example, I couldn't do things with my children or pursue courses of study on Saturday mornings.
From now on, I will be able to meet more people, have time with my family and do things that I was previously unable to do.
My colleagues in the Marine Department have been thinking hard about the best way to spend their Saturdays. One thing is for sure: we will travel more frequently. Many of us are planning trips to Shanghai, Taiwan or Hainan on Friday nights after work, returning on Sunday.
The change means we will stay in the office 45 minutes longer on weekdays, since our total working hours will not change. To be honest, this doesn't matter to senior officers like me, because we work until 7pm or later every day, anyway.
The five-day working week will not mean any loss in productivity or inconvenience to the public. On the contrary, it will improve our efficiency and quality of work.
We simply did not have enough time off before. Now we can have a day to rest and use another day to think about work and plan for the week ahead. We will return to the office every Monday smarter and fitter.
The change will also boost staff morale a lot. For example, our department organises a hiking or countryside trip every few months. But only half the staff was able to attend on Saturday mornings. Now we can all do a full-day trip, and this will improve staff relationships.
Many of my colleagues plan to use their time off for study. That will improve work standards, and the quality of the civil service. As for me, I will spend more time on voluntary work for the Institute of Sea Transport, and many others will do the same.
Some people worry that the change will affect the government's operations. But that is not an issue at all. There could be some teething problems, but we professionals can certainly adapt to the change.
Saturday mornings were always a good time to prepare documents or write reports in the office, because there were fewer incoming calls. But we can change our work style. And we can always finish jobs at home if necessary.
Services for the public will hardly be affected. Most services, such as bill payments or applications for licences, can now be done online, while other essential services will still be available on Saturdays.
Some civil-service unions are pushing for more benefits under the five-day working week. At present, Saturdays and Sundays will be counted as leave days for any staff taking over 12 days of holiday in a row. This rule is to stop staff having too many, and excessively long, holidays.
Some unions say this regulation should be scrapped, because Saturdays are now our normal day off. But I do not agree. We should not ask for further benefits on top of the incentives offered voluntarily by our boss. It is a very good thing the government has done for us - and we will all treasure the extra time off.
So Ping-chi is the senior vice-chairman of the Senior Government Officers Association.
