The government has made it mandatory for all officials and employees of government, semi-government, autonomous and semi-autonomous institutions to remain present in their respective offices from 9am to 9:40am every working day.
The directive was issued through a circular signed by Cabinet Secretary Md Nasimul Gani on Monday.
According to the circular, the decision has been taken to ensure better public service delivery, enhance administrative dynamism and strengthen inter-departmental coordination.
The Cabinet Division observed that in some cases, officials remain absent from their offices during the early hours of the workday due to participation in official or personal engagements on the way to work. These include seminars, workshops, symposiums, training sessions as guest speakers, and visits to banks, hospitals or educational institutions.
As a result, citizens and other government offices often fail to communicate with the concerned officials in a timely manner, hampering service delivery, slowing administrative processes and negatively affecting the government’s image, the circular said.
To address the issue, all officials and employees must remain physically present in their respective office rooms from 9am to 9:40am. Authorities have also been instructed to ensure that official programmes are scheduled in a way that does not disrupt this mandatory time frame.
The circular reiterated that under the Government Employees (Regular Attendance) Rules, 2019 and the Secretariat Instructions, 2024, it is compulsory for officials and employees of government, semi-government and autonomous bodies to ensure timely attendance at and departure from their workplaces.
However, the directive will not apply to certain categories of personnel. These include:
Teachers and faculty members of educational and training institutions who are not engaged in administrative responsibilities
Officials and employees on roster duty in hospitals, prisons, media or security-related institutions
Personnel directly involved in emergency customer services
Members of law enforcement agencies and similar organizations who regularly perform field-level duties
Officials engaged in VVIP/VIP protocol duties, emergency response to major accidents, high-level meetings with development partners or diplomatic missions, and approved official tours
The circular further states that no official or employee may leave the workplace during office hours without prior written approval from the appropriate authority. Leaving the office without informing the authority, except for official duties, will not be permitted.