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Four-day govt holiday next week
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Posted on Oct 23 2006
Government offices will be closed for four consecutive days next week, as the Commonwealth observes the biweekly austerity holiday and a CNMI holiday.
Citizenship Day, marked in the CNMI every Nov. 4, falls on a Saturday. But it will be celebrated on Nov. 3, which is supposed to be an austerity holiday.
To prevent the conflict, the Legislature in preparing Public Law 15-24 set the austerity holiday law for Nov. 2, 2006.
Acting Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez said he had received many inquiries regarding the issue and clarified it in a memorandum.
Most government offices shut down on austerity holidays, although a number of employees are exempted to ensure the delivery of critical services.
In related news, the administration has instructed the Department of Finance to monitor exemptions granted to some government employees to ensure that only those exempted are paid beyond 72 hours of work.
The department was reminded that some employees are on “on-call status” while others are not exempt for full eight-hour shifts.
Employees on “on-call” status are required to justify their attendance to the Finance Department in order to be paid beyond 72 hours.
The austerity holidays cut the pay of affected employees by 10 percent.
