Cebu City implements four-day workweek for city hall workers

The Cebu City Government will be implementing a four-day workweek for all its departments amid threats of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). | CDN file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines –The Cebu City Government will be implementing a four-day workweek for all its departments amid threats of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella issued Memorandum No. 2020-233 on Sunday, March 15, 2020, directing all offices in city hall to adopt a four-day workweek as precautionary measures against COVID-19.

As a result, employees of the city government will have to report to work from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., from Mondays to Thursdays.

However, frontline workers are still required to work following the regular schedule, which is from Monday to Friday.

“Further, departments and offices with frontline services shall maintain a skeletal workforce on Fridays. Those part of the skeletal workforce shall render the regular service hours which is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” the memo said.

Despite the new schedule, it stressed that several policies, such as no-noon-break, will remain, and that basic delivery services will not be disrupted.

Community Quarantine

On the same day he issued and signed the memo, Labella declared to place Cebu City under community quarantine.

This means the city government will be tightening its border control for travelers transiting and accessing the city.

Community quarantine also paved way for the implementation of a nine-hour curfew, banning the entry of inbound passengers on all ports in the city, an extension on the suspension of classes, cancellation of large gatherings, and earlier closing time for commercial establishments.

Cebu remains free from any confirmed case of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) as of this posting. /bmjo