Supreme Court OKs 4-day workweek amid COVID-19 state of public health emergency

The Supreme Court (SC) will observe a 4-day workweek starting December 1 as the country remains under a state of public health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

SC employees will work 10 hours a day or from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. four days a week, equivalent to 40 hours of work weekly, according to an administrative circular issued by Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta.

The justices will decide the operations schedule of their offices but all other high court offices and services will be open from Mondays to Fridays with at least 80% personnel attendance, according to the circular.

Employees in court offices will be divided into five groups each comprising 20% of the total number of workers. Each group will have one weekday off. Groupings may be changed with prior notice to the employees.

Overtime services in all offices except that of the justices are suspended. Flexible time schedules are also suspended for the time being.

The Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan, the Court of Tax Appeals, and the lower courts were told to prepare and submit their own guidelines for a 4-day workweek to Peralta's office for approval.

Peralta issued the circular after the SC found, through a "serious study on the matter," that it was "advisable" to implement a 4-day workweek schedule during the period of state of public health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Philippines has been under a state of public health emergency since March, which was also the month strict lockdowns began in a bid to arrest the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Courts were also physically closed for a time to help prevent virus transmission.

Health authorities have recorded a total of 421,722 COVID-19 cases in the country as of Tuesday afternoon. Most of this number, or 386,792, have been tagged as recoveries. More than 8,000 patients have died. — Nicole-Anne C. Lagrimas/RSJ, GMA News