Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi has announced the extension of the Friday rest period for the public and private sectors to two hours from 1st January next year, compared to one hour and 30 minutes now.
He said the decision was made to enable Muslim employees to perform their Friday prayers comfortably when Johor’s weekend holidays change to Saturday and Sunday.
“Along with the changes, the working hours of state and federal government departments and agencies will be coordinated according to the implementation at the federal level,” he said when tabling the Johor Budget 2025 at the State Legislative Assembly in Kota Iskandar, Iskandar Puteri, Johor.
Following the advice of the Johor Islamic Religious Department (JAINJ) and with the consent of His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, Johor Regent Tunku Mahkota Ismail issued an order on 7th October 2024 to realign weekend holidays to Saturday and Sunday beginning 1st January 2025.
Tunku Mahkota Ismail additionally ordered that all private firms, the government, and affiliated parties offer adequate space and time for Muslim employees to do Friday prayers.
The weekend holiday reorganisation affects all Johor inhabitants, particularly 587,343 students and 1.948 million government and private sector employees.
Regarding a related issue, Onn Hafiz stated that the Johor State Education Department, JAINJ, and the Johor Mufti Department will increase the number of suraus, including school halls, in order to ensure that male Muslim students can offer their Friday prayers.
The state government, according to the Menteri Besar, will keep enhancing its service delivery system and productivity, including enabling digital services through the addition of online transactions.
He stated that crucial counter-service operating hours, including during breaks, will be extended and standardised across all state, federal, and local government offices and organisations.
“If these improvement efforts go well and smooth, in the future, the state government with the approval of Tunku Mahkota Ismail and the blessing of His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, is ready to consider the proposal to change working hours to four and a half days without reducing the overall working hours for the public sector,” he said.
