Jakarta – The Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Ministry has allowed civil servants to work from home for two weeks in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in state offices. The new working arrangement is stipulated in a circular signed by Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Tjahjo Kumolo.
"The policy is in place since Monday and will be effective until March 31," Tjahjo said in a statement on Monday.
Tjahjo said that while all civil servants could work from home, every agency head still needed to assign a few officials at each office to maintain its public service obligation. He also urged the head of every agency to implement the home-office regime based on each civil servant's type of work, health condition and travel record for the last 14 days.
He demanded that civil servants not leave their homes except for urgent matters such as buying groceries or going to the hospital and to report such activities to their superiors immediately. Civil servants were also obliged to attend teleconferences or video calls since the ministry banned face-to-face meetings involving lots of attendees.
The ministry urged civil servants not to perform duties overseas and to call the medical emergency service on 119 if they have visited countries with confirmed COVID-19 cases. The head of each state agency, he said, should regularly report to the ministry the names of civil servants who needed close observation from the Health Ministry.
"During the work-from-home period, all civil servants still have the right to receive monthly performance allowances. However, after it has finished, the head of every agency should evaluate the policy and submit its report to the ministry," Tjahjo added.
According to 2019 data from the National Civil Service Agency (BKN), there are 4.28 million civil servants across the country.
As of Sunday, Indonesia has reported 117 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and five deaths. (glh)