4-day workweek to hamper Philippine competitiveness

The Management Association of the Philippines is opposing a bill proposing the implementation of a four-day workweek, saying this will hamper the country’s competitiveness and run counter to the principle of regional integration.

In a statement, the group said that having the country work only four days a week while the rest of the world operated five or even six days a week could contribute to a slide in the Philippines’ global competitiveness rankings.

Since the country was working toward the Association of Southeast Asian Nations integration by 2015, reducing the workweek by a day also did not make sense.

“The bill will compel all sectors, public and private, to cut working days to four a week when the global economy, especially the stock markets, are in operation five days a week. Asean is working toward integration of markets and the Philippines will be disconnected one day each week should the bill become law,” MAP said.

A shorter workweek would also mean longer work hours, which could result in worker inefficiency, unproductiveness and fatigue, the group said. As prescribed by the International Labor Organization, work days should last no longer than eight hours, on a regular basis.

Particularly for manual laborers and machine operators, extending work hours could prove dangerous as it could diminish their concentration and result in accidents.

The proposal would also not result in savings on utility bills on the part of the employers as they would be having longer work days.

Savings in terms of transportation expenses were also not likely to materialize as it could not be assured that employees would just stay at home during their extra day off.

Before writing any bill, especially one that could affect various aspects of the economy, MAP said a thorough research should be made and empirical data shown to support any assumptions that would be made.—Abigail L. Ho