Hanoi's public offices to work on Saturday mornings

The decision, recently announced by Hanoi Mayor Nguyen Duc Chung, will apply to the municipal Departments of Planning and Investment; Natural Resources and Environment; Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs; Construction; Justice; Transport; Agriculture and Rural Development; Planning and Architecture; the management boards of industrial and export-processing zones; and People’s Committees of all levels, from district-level to town-level.

The public servants who work on Saturday mornings may be entitled to compensatory time off or overtime pay, depending on the arrangements with their workplaces.

The mayor also tasked the municipal Department of Home Affairs to issue regulations ensuring a transparent scheme on leave and compensation for those working extra time.

Administrative offices typically work from Monday through Friday, meaning that people have to take time off work in order to conduct procedures at these offices.

However, many expressed scepticism about the effectiveness of the extended working hours, pointing to the aggravating bureaucratic nightmares that haunt State administrative agencies.