Omar Bahrain Unin
SIBU (Aug 23): The Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) Sarawak has suggested that civil servants, apart from front-liners, be allowed to work from home due to Covid-19.
Chairman Omar Bahrain Unin cited the high level of Covid-19 cases in the state, particularly for the southern zone.
He said Cuepacs Sarawak understood quite a few government departments were closed temporarily for between three days and two weeks to prevent the virus from spreading further.
He noted the offices were either closed for sanitisation works or personnel were found to be Covid-19 positive and others quarantined.
“We hope the government can consider to allow public servants to work from home for a certain period through the respective heads of departments.
“Working from home is a good measure to reduce exposure or risk to the civil servants and public in particular, as we cannot identify individuals who have been affected just by looking (at them),” he said.
He also called on heads of departments to assess the risk level in their respective offices.
Cuepacs Sarawak hopes that the health and safety of workers would be taken into account, he said.
For civil servants allowed to work from home, Omar stressed they must abide by guidelines or standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by the government to ensure service delivery is not affected.
“It is important to understand the objectives of working from home, which is allowed for the health and safety of everyone,” he added.