Khaberni - The idea of reducing the number of working days to four instead of five was proposed. It appears that this idea was presented hastily and without a comprehensive and integrated study of its different dimensions. The confusion between the intense workweek as a form of flexible employment, which is a right for employees, and making public sector office hours four days instead of five was evident in media and journalistic encounters in the development of the public sector. The intense workweek, as a form of flexible work, allows employees to complete the full weekly working hours (for example, in the public sector, 35 hours spread over five days) in fewer days, like working for four days instead of five. This arrangement benefits the employee by improving their mental health through balancing work and personal life, such as spending more time with family or caring for them or accomplishing personal tasks, while their organization gains benefits such as improved productivity and cost-saving. This form of flexible work exists in Jordan through Regulation Number (44) of 2024 called the Flexible Work Regulation issued under Articles (2) and (140) of the Labor Law Number (8) of 1996, so we are not reinventing the wheel, and it is not new to the work environment in Jordan. If the intent of this idea is to adopt the intense workweek style, the solution is simple and involves adding it to the official working hours and flexible working instructions for 2025, specifically in Article (2/a) by defining the intense workweek and to Article (8) as a fourth form of flexible work. There is no need for a referendum among employees since it is their right under law and in line with modern administrative practices, which has led many countries worldwide to put it in a legal and legislative framework that mandates and encourages organizations in both the public and private sectors to adopt it if an employee wishes to benefit from it according to their circumstances and life requirements.
However, if the idea revolves around reducing the working days for public sector offices to four days instead of five by increasing the daily working hours for employees, thereby suspending public sector offices and all their employees for three days, then this idea seems impractical, explaining why it has not been officially and legally implemented in the public sector in any country, especially those that have advanced far in the field of digitization, and cannot be realistically implemented in Jordan—at least not in the near future—due to several challenges and obstacles such as the incomplete digitization of government services and other administrative processes, specifically the interconnectivity between departments. I believe that consulting the Council for Future Technology is crucial to confirm the digital readiness for any transformation in the work systems of Jordanian public sector offices. There are also social and economic challenges related to the lengthy absence of the employee from his family, especially children in schools and nurseries, which must be deeply studied, in addition to the negative impacts on local and international economic sectors linked with the employees' working hours like transportation, and those requiring direct and ongoing interaction with public sector offices. This approach also conflicts with some legislations, laws, and regulations such as the human resources management system and overtime work instructions.
Developing the public sector must focus on core and fundamental issues that the citizen feels the impact of, as directed by His Majesty the King, such as enhancing the level of governance, the rule of law and justice, improving the level of services, assessing the performance of top administrative leaders, and holding them accountable, and developing actual performance indicators for the level of performance of public sector offices, and conducting a broad evaluation of the roles of the departments involved in developing the public sector to judge the feasibility and existence of these offices, and a real and impartial reassessment of the previous phase of the public sector modernization roadmap to identify successes and failures and solve problems of role conflicts before beginning to propose ideas that may not fit the reality of public administration in Jordan. And the question remains: Is reducing the working days of public sector offices to four days a real reform or a hasty decision?
