National Assembly introduces work-from-home policy to cut fuel expenses

50% staff to work from home

The work-from-home policy has been introduced as part of new austerity measures aimed at reducing government spending.

Under the arrangement, half of the staff will work from offices while the remaining half will work remotely on a rotational basis.

The National Assembly Secretariat will prepare rotational duty rosters for staff. Employees working remotely must remain available through phone, email and WhatsApp and can be called to the office with one hour’s notice when required.

Under the new arrangement, employees work from home while continuing to perform their official duties.

However, the notification states that such staff will not receive daily allowance or overtime payments.

The work-from-home policy also requires staff to remain available during working hours. Employees cannot leave their station without permission from the competent authority.

The National Assembly Secretariat has also reduced fuel supplies for official vehicles by 50% for the next three months. The purchase of new vehicles has also been banned under the austerity plan.

Restrictions on expenses

As part of the measures, employees work from home according to a rotation system. Those assigned to remote duty will not be given daily allowance, while overtime payments will also not be available to them.

The work-from-home policy is part of a wider effort to reduce operational expenses. The Secretariat has also decided to reduce its monthly non-development spending by 5%.

The National Assembly Secretariat will encourage meetings of standing committees to be held virtually. Officials have also been directed to keep the number of meetings as low as possible.

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Foreign trips suspended

Under the new measures, employees work from home on a rotational basis, while foreign visits by the Secretariat have been suspended for three months. Some scholarships, training courses and international programmes are exempt from the restriction.

The restrictions also cover government-funded seminars, conferences and official dinners, except for events involving foreign delegations.

The daily allowance will not be available to employees assigned to remote work, while overtime payments have also been stopped under the new arrangement.

Paperless working plan

The work-from-home policy also forms part of a broader plan to introduce a paperless working environment and reduce administrative costs.

The National Assembly Secretariat has said the austerity measures have taken effect immediately and will continue until further orders.

For staff, the key change is that employees work from home under a rotation system but must remain available and may be called to the office when needed.

The decision means daily allowance and overtime payments will not be provided to employees working remotely.