"WFA" ASN Ahead of Eid, Ombudsman Reminds Public Services Not to Be Disrupted

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - Several ministries and institutions are starting to be quiet because their employees are leaving to work from anywhere or work from anywhere ahead of the 1446 Hijriah Eid holiday. Although this is in line with the rules of the Ministry of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform or Kemenpan and RB, the Indonesian Ombudsman reminded that public services should not be affected.

One of the ministry offices that is starting to look deserted is the Ministry of Law in the Kuningan area, Jakarta. Kompas' monitoring, Wednesday (3/26/2025), the office was not as crowded as usual because most employees were already working from home or working from anywhere (WFA). Since the beginning of last week, some employees have even returned to their hometowns using the free homecoming facilities from their offices.

Most of the employees of Komnas HAM have been working from anywhere in accordance with Circular Letter (SE) of the Secretary-General of Komnas HAM Number 1 of 2025, as a follow-up to SE Menpan and RB No. 2/2025 regarding the Adjustment of Official Duties of ASN Employees in Government Agencies and the Provision of Public Services during the National Holidays and Joint Leave for Nyepi and Lebaran.

In the circular letter from the Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform, leaders in each government agency are given the flexibility to adjust the implementation of official duties for civil servants in their respective agencies during the four days preceding the national holiday and collective leave for Nyepi and Eid, specifically from Monday (24/3/2025) to Thursday (27/3/2025).

The adjustment in question involves a combination of flexibility in carrying out official duties at the office (work from office/WFO) and performing official duties from home (work from home/WFH) and/or other locations determined by the leadership of government agencies (work from anywhere/WFA).

The flexibility of ASN's work assignment implementation is opened to anticipate the spike in community movement ahead of the Nyepi and Eid holidays.

Although flexibility has been provided, the Coordinator for Public Relations and Cooperation at Komnas HAM, Sasanti Amisani, assured that public services would not be disrupted. This is because, in every bureau at Komnas HAM, a duty roster has been arranged from March 24 to 27.

From the Public Relations Bureau, for instance, at least two people are on duty. However, if there is a sudden call or their assistance is needed, those who are not on duty will also be asked to come to the office.

"Those on duty are always present every day because we have already set a schedule. The duty roster is arranged for office staff. However, officers on duty for receiving complaints or consultations are always available," he explained.

On Wednesday, for example, there are still a number of employees on duty to receive complaints from the public. "On March 28-April 7, we will be on holiday or close the service. However, if the public wants to send complaints, they can do so online via e-mail and Whatsapp. Processing will be done after the holiday is over," he said.

Member of the Indonesian Ombudsman Robert Na Endi Jaweng is of the view that the flexibility of ASN workplaces is not only implemented ahead of the Nyepi and Eid holidays, but has been implemented by a number of agencies since the government made the budget more efficient.

What needs to be remembered in implementing this work model is that public services must not be disrupted. Ministry/institution offices must also not be empty to anticipate if there are complaints of certain problems from the public and urgently need to be resolved. Therefore, it is important for the leaders of each agency to regulate the implementation of the flexibility of this work model.

At the Ombudsman, for example, not all employees are allowed to WFA. There must be some who remain working in the office to anticipate if there are people who want to come to report. The public complaint work unit at the Indonesian Ombudsman is still working until Wednesday.

"We made a middle way from the SE Kemenpan RB, namely with a mixed or hybrid work scheme. Some are WFA, some have to go to the office. We keep the public complaint work unit open so that it is not delayed," he explained.

He also suggested that ministries and institutions whose main tasks and functions are directly related to the needs of the community, such as immigration and land, to keep their services open.

Although these agencies have opened online services, it must be realized that not all are internet literate. Employees must still be on standby in the office to serve the public who want to take care of permits, documents or report a problem.

Head of the Indonesian National Police Traffic Corps, Inspector General Agus Suryonugroho, when contacted, said that one of the benefits obtained from the implementation of WFA for ASN is the equalization of vehicle flow during the 2025 Eid homecoming trip.

As an illustration, from the situation D-10 of Eid or Saturday (22/3/2025) there was an increase in the volume of vehicles leaving Jakarta which was up to 37 percent compared to the same period of Eid in 2024. This figure is the cumulative figure of traffic flow from four main toll gates (GT), namely the Cikampek Utama GT (towards Trans-Java), Kalihurip Utama GT (towards Bandung), Cikupa GT (towards Merak), and Ciawi GT (towards Puncak).

Then, on D-9 of Eid, there was also an increase in vehicle flow of 22 percent compared to the same momentum last year. On D-8 of Eid, the flow of vehicles leaving Jabotabek also increased by 17.8 percent compared to the same period last year. Then, on D-7 of Eid or Tuesday (3/24/2025), the number of vehicles leaving the Jabotabek area increased by 11.9 percent compared to the same period of Eid al-Fitr 2024.

"We estimate that on D-3 of Eid it will not be too much because it has started to unravel since the beginning. The government's fast policy has had a fairly good impact on the smooth process," said Agus.