Judicial workers seek four-day working week, remote work.

Judicial Employees Association President Amircal Gerena Román

By THE STAR STAFF

Judicial Employees Association (AEJ by its initials in Spanish) President Amircal Gerena Román has requested that Office of Court Administration Director Sigfrido Steidel Figueroa implement remote work and reinstate the four-day workweek to ease the high cost of living faced by employees of the island judiciary due to the high cost of living, exacerbated by rising gasoline prices.

In a letter sent Tuesday, Gerena Román listed the proposed administrative measures, which include “resuming the remote work program for those positions whose duties allow it,” he said.

“Meanwhile, for employees whose duties require them to be physically present, implementing a four-day workweek,” the labor leader added. “Both measures would represent significant relief for our fellow employees in the judicial branch.”

“The current economic situation in the country is severely impacting the working class,” Gerena Román emphasized. “Judicial employees face high costs for gasoline, tolls, food, electricity, and medicine, among other expenses. This affects their economic stability and quality of life, so resuming remote work and the four-day workweek is a welcome incentive for our colleagues.”

The AEJ president noted that both remote work and the four-day workweek have proven to be effective tools within the judiciary in other contexts.

“These measures were implemented during the pandemic, and services were provided efficiently and in an organized manner,” he said. “Even today, they are still maintained in certain areas, albeit on a smaller scale. Our request seeks a structured, responsible, and temporary implementation without affecting services to the public.”

AEJ members have said the proposed administrative measures would enable a more equitable expansion of existing administrative benefits in certain operational areas, thereby benefiting a greater number of judicial employees. They also emphasized that the initiatives would benefit employees, judges, and other members of the judicial system by fostering a healthier, more efficient work environment that is more responsive to current economic realities.

“We believe that these measures would benefit both employees and the judicial system itself,” Gerena Román said, noting that the proposed measures would be temporary based on the duration of existing economic conditions. “An employee with less financial and emotional burden can perform better, maintain better emotional well-being, and provide more efficient service.”