Govt Cuts Collective Leave Days to Prevent Spike in COVID-19 Cases

Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy. (Photo: PR of Cabinet Secretariat)

In a bid to prevent spike in the number of COVID-19 cases, the Government has decided to reduce the number of collective leave days this year.

The decision is stipulated in a Joint Decree of Minister of Religious Affairs, Minister of Manpower, and Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform Number 281 of 2021 and Number 1 of 2021.

The decision to cut the collective leave days was reached during a coordinating meeting on 2021 Collective Leave, led by Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy.

In the previous Joint Decree, there were 7 collective leave days. After we reviewed it, we decided to cut the number of collective leave days to 2 days only, Muhadjir said, Monday (22/02/2021).

Based on the meeting, the collective leave days that have been removed are:
Collective leave for Isra Miraj (Ascension Day of Prophet Muhammad), originally planned for 12 March;
Collective leave for Eid Al-Fitr, originally planned for 17, 18, and 19 May;
Collective leave for Christmas, originally planned for 27 December

Meanwhile, the leave for Eid on 12 May and for Christmas on 24 December remain unchanged.

Muhadjir underscored that the leave one day before Eid and one day before Christmas was given to facilitate the Indonesian National Police to manage the peoples mobility.

“We dont want any buildups in one day. It would be dangerous, he said.

Furthermore, the Minister also stated several reasons of the leave reduction, one of which is the COVID-19 curve that has not flattened despite the mitigation measures taken.

After a long holiday, he added, COVID-19 cases tend to rise and public mobility tends to increase. In the meantime, vaccination programs are still ongoing, he added.

Therefore, the Government needs to review collective leave days that are likely to encourage public mobility, which causes an increase in transmission, said Muhadjir.

The Government also urged the people to continue to observe health protocols and break off COVID-19 transmission chain together. (PR of Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture) (DH/EP)