State Govt announced five-day work week for its employees beginning from Feb 29
Nagpur: As announced by Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA Government, a notification regarding norms for five-day work week was issued by General Administration Department of Maharashtra Government. The five-day work will come effect from February 29 (Saturday).
However, the five-day work week will not be applicable to the Government employees in hospitals and essential services and also the police department. Other departments in which the five-day work week will not be applicable include Water Resources Department, Public Health, Revenue and Forest, General Administration, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries, Industry, Energy, Labour, Educational Institutions, offices covered under Factory Rules, Industrial Disputes Act and essential services like the police and fire brigade, government colleges, polytechnic colleges, sanitation workers.
The Maharashtra Government on February 12, 2020, had announced five-day work week for its officers and employees beginning from February 29 and extended the current work hours by 45 minutes. The government is of the view that the new structure would not only improve the quality of life of its employees but will also cut down expenses on fuel and electricity. State employees have been demanding the five-day work week for many years. The decision was taken at the State Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai, which will benefit nearly 20 lakh officers and employees.
At present, the work hours of the government employees in Mumbai are from 9.45 am to 5.30 pm and from 10 am to 5.45 pm in the rest of Maharashtra including lunch time of 30 minutes. The employees currently get holidays on every second and fourth Saturday. The new work hours will be from 9.45 am to 6.15 pm including the lunch break for 30 minutes between 1 pm and 2 pm. Peons in the government departments will, however, have to report to work at 9.30 am everyday.
Currently, the total working days for government employees in Maharashtra are 288 in a year, while the total working hours per day are 7:15 hours excluding the 30-minute lunch time. The total work hours in a month are 174 hours and in a year 2088 hours.
As per the GR, for the peons, the working hours will be from 9.30 am to 6.30 pm. The working hours will include half-an-hour of lunch break anytime between 1 pm and 2 pm. The five-day work week relief will not be available to milk schemes under Dairy Development Department. Further, many establishments in Vidarbha region also will be deprived of five-day work week. Five-day work week will not be applicable to Vaccine Institute, Nagpur.
Under Water Resources Department, the norm will not be applicable to Government Central Workshops at Nagpur and Bhandara; regional workshops at Wardha, Akola, Ashti. The other deprived establishments from the region include integrated units under Revenue and Forest Department at Ballarshah and Paratwada; Government-owned saw mill at Alapalli, and workshops under Divisional Forest Officer (Transport and Business) at Paratwada and Ballarshah.
