Senate President Pete P. Reyes, R-Saipan, said the Senate and the House of Representatives may consider a bill mandating a four-day work week to cut personnel expenses.
“If the austerity legislation doesn’t come out, we’re going to take the bull by the horn and make sure that we operate within the budget,” said Reyes.
“One of the considerations that the House and the Senate [are] discussing is the possibility of implementing a four-day work week,” he added.
The four-day work week will mean a 16-hour pay cut, but Reyes said that’s better than layoffs.
“I remember President Obama saying in his inaugural speech that one of the things that he is most proud of about Americans is that they are willing to sacrifice reducing their work hours in order to prevent terminating fellow Americans,” said Reyes.
The current spending limit of the CNMI government is $148 million but projected revenues for the incoming fiscal year is way below this amount.
Reyes said a reduction in hours will help protect the jobs of government employees.
“This is a much better alternative than terminating people. We’re in a recession and people need jobs to put food on the table. One of the most painful experiences anyone can have is to be terminated. I hate to see that happen. We’re doing everything we can to prevent that,” he said.
The government employs more than 4,000 workers.
