BELMOPAN, Tues. June 15, 2021– As previously reported, the government approved a reduction in the weekly working hours for public workers. As stipulated by Public Service Regulation 32, those workers who are being paid by the government will be working one hour less each day of the week. This was one of the measures the government had promised the unions that it would put in place in an effort to get workers to accept the 10% salary cuts that were recently implemented.

Gerald Henry, the then president of the Public Service Union, had proposed the reduction in the working hours as a cost-saving measure during negotiations between the Joint Unions and GoB. In May, Henry had told the media that they had engaged in extensive study with a work colleague to assess the impact of a shorter work week. He mentioned that an employee at the Ministry of Public Utilities, Energy and Logistics had indicated to them that the proposed shorter work week would result in a significant reduction in utility costs.

It has been noted that at times, when the demand for certain government services is very high, public officers may be required to do overtime when needed or to arrive at their workplace earlier. Studies done by National Pubic Ratio, a US NGO, indicated that there was a 40% increase in productivity at some companies that introduced a shorter work week.

A memo from the Government of Belize announced that the workweek reduction would become effective on June 14, 2021.