MALACAÑAN PALACE
MANILA

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES

[ MEMORANDUM ORDER NO. 285, June 01, 2008 ]

AUTHORIZING THE ADOPTION OF 8:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. WORK SCHEDULE IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT PROPER

In keeping with the objectives of Administrative Order No. 103 dated August 31, 2004 adopting austerity measures in the government to reduce expenses particularly in the consumption of fuel, water, office supplies, electricity and other utilities, the 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. work schedule is hereby adopted in the Office of the President Proper effective June 1, 2008 subject to the following guidelines:

1. The official working hours shall be from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Mondays to Fridays, with lunch break from 12:00 Noon to 1:00 PM. All employees in the Office of the President (Proper) are required to render at least forty (40) hours of work in a week from Monday to Friday.

2. Employees who report after 8:00 A.M. shall be considered tardy and shall not be allowed to offset such tardiness by rendering extra time. Employees who leave before 5:00 P.M. shall be considered on undertime. Corresponding deductions shall be taken from the concerned employees' vacation leave credits.

3. Employees are entitled to a lunch break not exceeding one (1) hour, 12:00 Noon to 1:00 P.M. The interval between the employees' time out and time in shall be at least thirty (30) minutes. Employees who leave for lunch break before 12:00 Noon shall be considered to have incurred undertime in the morning while those who exceed the 1:00 P.M. lunch break shall be considered tardy in the afternoon. Deductions shall be correspondingly made on the vacation leave credits of the employees concerned.

4. Officials from Directors III to Assistant Secretaries need not register their times of arrival and departure from office. However, they shall be required to submit Certificate of Completion of Service with attached Calendar of Activities for the month for official activities attended within and outside the office as well as copies of their leave form, if any. The Certificate of Completion of Service must be duly signed by their heads of office for Directors III, Deputy Executive Secretary (DES) for Directors IV and Assistant Secretaries.

5. Employees shall seek prior clearance before going out of station or workplace under unavoidable circumstances. A locator slip shall be used for this purpose to note the approval of the head of office. Likewise employees on official business, trainings and/or seminar shall seek prior authority to attend and participate in such activity. This will be covered by Special Order. The locator slip and Special Order shall be attached in the Daily Attendance Record of the employees concerned.

6. For purposes of recording attendance, OP employees with the rank of Division chiefs and below are required to register their times of arrival and departure from the office through the fingerscan machine and/or bundy clock provided for this purpose. At the same time they shall log-in and log-out in the daily time blotter of their respective offices. These attendance reports (fingerscan machine, bundy card, daily time blotter and certificate of completion of service for third level employees) shall be submitted to the HRMO by designated office Timekeepers or Assistant Timekeepers not later than five (5) days of the succeeding month.

7. Employees of the Internal House Affairs Office (IHAO), Engineering Office, Motor Pool Office, and Information and Communication Technology Office (particularly Telephone Operators) may be required to follow a schedule appropriate to the nature of their work.

8. Employees are required to attend the Monday Flag Raising Ceremony.1âшphi1

Any violation of these rules shall be ground for disciplinary action,

This Memorandum Order takes effect on June 1, 2008 and supersedes previous issuances regarding the official working schedule in the Office of the President Proper.

(Sgd.) GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO

By authority of the President

(Sgd.) EDUARDO R. ERMITA
Executive Secretary

Manila, June 2, 2008


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