By Farah Naz Karim ; NST Online 29/09/2008
PUTRAJAYA: Civil servants who want to take on a second job to supplement their income now need only to seek approval from their heads of department. Public Service Department director-general Tan Sri Ismail Adam said civil servants must ensure that their part-time work did not interfere with their responsibilities to the service. To expedite the approval process, he said heads of departments could use their discretion to allow their employees to work part-time instead of seeking the nod from the PSD, as was the requirement previously. "The government understands the pressures they are facing in light of the challenging economy and this move would definitely ease their burden," he told the New Straits Times yesterday. Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) president Omar Osman, in welcoming the decision, said his organisation had appointed representatives within the civil service to ensure that public servants who worked outside office hours did not abuse the privilege. He said they had been told to only start their part-time job after five and make sure they stopped by midnight. "We do not want our members to work till the break of dawn and when they reach their office the next morning, they start looking for storerooms to sleep." He said the one-step approval was appreciated as it would allow civil servants to quickly get started on their second job. At least 100 civil servants have applied for permission to do part-time jobs or run a petty trade. Among jobs they have applied to do are giving lectures and tuition, driving taxis, breeding fish, working as petrol station attendants and setting up stalls at night markets. The PSD expects more applications from the 800,000 government employees. In June, the government opened the door for them to supplement their income in view of the rising cost of living. Cuepacs has estimated that 450,000 civil servants earning between RM750 and RM1,500 a month are badly affected by rising prices, especially the high cost of fuel and food. In the private sector, some employees are moonlighting to make ends meet. Malaysian Employers Federation executive director Shamsuddin Bardan had said that there were employees in the private sector who were holding part-time jobs or second jobs without the knowledge of their employers.
