Phl to save P20 B weekly on 4-day work sked

MANILA, Philippines - Workers from the public and private sector nationwide can save at least P20 billion a week in expenses if a 10-hour, four-day workweek is implemented, Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo said yesterday.

Castelo pushed for the adoption and institutionalization of the “10/4 work week” schedule in the public and private sectors to save on transport cost and enable workers to have extended weekends with their families.

The proposed 10/4 work week formula does not change the traditional 40 hours of work every week, according to Castelo, who authored and filed the bill on “Four-Day Work Week Act” in 2011, and refiled the same bill in 2013 as House Bill 1278.

“It will still be 40 hours a week, but the work schedule will run from Monday to Thursday instead of until Friday. Public and private sector employees will put in two additional hours of work daily,” he said.

Castelo, who chairs the House committee on Metro Manila development, acknowledged the move by several state agencies and private firms to adopt it on an optional basis, but said Congress has to move to enact his bill and institutionalize it as part of the laws of the land.

If a worker in Metro Manila spends P200 a day in transport fare, food and snacks, and other expenses in going to work, or P1,000 every week, Castelo said the 10/4 work week will mean a savings of P200 per week.

For workers in the provinces, who spend a daily average of P100, the weekly savings could be P100, he said.

Overall, the proposed 10/4 workweek could mean weekly savings amounting to at least P20 billion for the over 20 million private sector workers and 1.5 million state employees, he said.