Umno Youth To Protest Extra Hours For Civil Servants Working Shifts

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The new civil service remuneration system, to take effect in December, will see nurses in wards working 45 hours a week, up from their current 42 hours.PETALING JAYA: Umno Youth will submit a formal letter of protest to the government over a directive requiring civil servants on shift duty to work an additional three hours a week

Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh described the directive under the civil service remuneration system (SSPA), which would affect ward nurses and security personnel, as an injustice to these government servants.
He said it would add more stress to these civil servants, who mostly work in frontline sectors like healthcare and security, which were physically and mentally taxing.
“The directive not only ignores their sacrifices working day and night, but also increases pressure on those who already risk burnout.
“We will submit a formal letter of opposition to the relevant authorities to emphasise our stand on this matter,” the Melaka executive councillor said in a statement.
Akmal urged the government to maintain the current 42-hour work week, and to offer compensation or replacement leave days to those who work on public holidays.
The SSPA directive will see nurses and other relevant civil servants working in shifts to clock 45 hours a week, up from their current 42 hours, from December.
Hospitals are understood to be considering revising the current shift hours for nurses to 7am–3pm, 3pm–10pm, and 10pm–7am the following day.
Currently, the shift hours are 7am–2pm, 2pm–9pm, and 9pm–7am the following day.
Senator RA Lingeshwaran and Malayan Nurses Union president Saaidah Athman have said it was unfair to compare nurses who worked shifts, which includes night duty, to office workers who only worked weekdays.
However, health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad described the additional working hours as “reasonable”.
He also said the welfare of the nurses affected by the directive would be better taken care of as they would be given more flexible shifts. - FMT

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