Poya is pious

Tuesday, 28 December 2010 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Steps are not afoot to make the private sector work on Poya days, says the Employers Federation, keeping Sri Lanka’s record for having the most number of holidays in the world intact.

Employers Federation of Ceylon (EFC) Director General Ravi Peiris told Daily FT that the reports of the government having discussions to convert Poya days into working days for the private sector were unfounded.

He insisted that the EFC had cleared the issue at the highest official level and no such moves were being planned by the Labour Department.

“I had discussions with the Commissioner General of Labour Upali Wijeweera and he insisted that there was no such plan at the moment,” he said adding that the reports could be a “misinterpretation” of the existing regulations. “At present the private sector has eight statutory holidays a year, including Christmas, Sinhala and Tamil New Year, Independence Day and day after Vesak. These are what are commonly referred to as mercantile holidays but the Poya holiday was never part of them. The Poya holiday was never classified as a mercantile holiday and belongs to a separate quota of holidays.”

Be that as it may, the key contention is whether or not Poya is going to remain a holiday for the private sector and according to Peiris there will be no change in the present set of vacations.

It was reported that Labour Relations Minister Gamini Lokuge was planning to scrap the Poya holiday for the private sector from next year.

The Minister had remarked that the step was being considered following several appeals from different stakeholders and currently was being discussed with employees, government officials and companies. He did not mention when a final decision would be taken.

Meanwhile Philippine President Benigno Aquino has cut the number of paid holidays next year, amid complaints from foreign business groups unhappy over mounting overtime pay. He has reduced 21 public holidays to just 16 next year.

Seven foreign chambers of commerce issued a report last week which concluded that the large number of holidays was forcing many potential investors to avoid the country, while raising costs for employers by tens of millions of dollars per year. The report said workers in the Philippines have it better than their counterparts elsewhere in the region. For instance, this year there are nine holidays in Vietnam, 11 in Singapore and 12 in Taiwan. Sri Lanka on the other hand has 33 holidays a year.