Skopje seems empty, although Friday is a working day.
Before New Year, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs announced that holidays, such as Thursday (1st of January) and Tuesday and Wednesday (6th and 7th of January), Christmas Eve and Christmas, should not be merged with Friday (2nd of January) and Monday (5th of January). However, it appears that employees, mostly those of the public administration, know all the “tricks”, so this time as well, they have merged these cold days. Thus, part of the administration merges holidays with vacation days, so they will start their work this year on 15th of January.
Things are different in private companies. Owners, in order to cut costs, and in a situation when there are no large orders (if it’s a matter of production), or to conserve resources, collectively merge holidays.
But is it okay to cut a holiday with one working day of the week, as, in this case, Friday with the weekend, or the logic of the Government for non-merging holidays is justified?
According to sociologist Ali Pajaziti, it is good for the worker if there is only one working day in the week, it to be merged with the upcoming weekend.
– It would be efficient to merge one day if it’s between a holiday and weekend. In that one day, the employee is defocused and will not provide all the expertise, or the entire capacity in fulfilling his duties. In the world there is a practice of “free time”, when the employee in any case shouldn’t mentally or physically be linked to employers, with elements of the workplace – stated Pajaziti for META.
According to the economist and former deputy Minister of Economy Zoran Vitanov, administration in no circumstances should merge holidays because we pay its salary and therefore it should deliver its services to us.
– For the private companies, the owners are those who decide. The market will indicate whether they should merge holidays or not. Only one link of the economy, sales, increases revenue, while all others increase costs. That’s why it would be illogical if sales merge holidays. The administration should work and be of service to the citizens – says Vitanov.
Professor Trajko Slaveski, former Minister of Finance, also claims that Macedonia has enough holidays and that it’s not good to merge them with weekdays.
– There are some countries that are more pragmatic and merge holidays with weekends. In the US, for example, it happens regularly – holidays to be merged with weekends. However, we have sufficient holidays. We should not exaggerate the celebration and it should take place as projected in the Law on holidays, and not in any other way – claims Slaveski.
