Council to review new working hours

A CHANGE in working hours for Ipoh City Council general workers has not gone down well with some of the staff, councillor M. Kulasegaran said.

The new working hours from 7am to 4pm, implemented in September, had disrupted the routine of some of the workers, he said.

Raising the matter during a winding-up speech yesterday, Kulasegaran said he was told that Muslim workers found the new time to be a problem for them, particularly during Friday prayers.

“There were also women workers who found it difficult to return to work until 4pm after having gone home for lunch,” said Kulasegaran, who is also Ipoh Barat MP.

“General workers, who had to take extra work in the evening to supplement their family incomes, also found it problematic because they could only start work later,” he said.
The former working hours from 6.45am to 2pm were changed in August, beginning with the Manjung Municipal Council, Kula-segaran said.

“When the new hours were implemented by the Ipoh City Council in September, I received many complaints from the workers,” he said.

“I hope the council will look into the matter and review the policy,” he said. Datuk Bandar Roshidi Hashim, at a press conference, acknowledged that certain groups of the 900-odd general workers found the new working hours to be problematic.

He added that the council would review the working hours following their complaints. On exploration work for the lost tunnel linking Ipoh Town Hall and the High Court, Roshidi said the council would be seeking the expertise of Heritage Department Com-missioner Datuk Prof Zuraina Majid.

He hoped work to look for the tunnel would start next month.