The employees at the Federal Parliament Secretariat have warned that they will not work beyond office hours starting Wednesday, demanding an allowance for overtime and odd hours.

Their warning comes as the government plans to endorse the national budget on Thursday. The staff at the Parliament Secretariat claim that they have to work regularly before and after office hours without being paid a penny beyond their regular salary.

“It has been three years since the government stopped paying the allowance,” Govind Belbase, chairperson of the Employee Union of the Federal Parliament Secretariat, told the Post. “We had to resort to protest as no money has been allocated in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year as well.”

The national budget was tabled in Parliament on May 28, and the ministry-wise discussions are currently ongoing. The budget for the fiscal year 2024-2025 is scheduled to be endorsed on Thursday.

Belbase said that the House meetings, which generally start at 11 am, run beyond 5 pm regularly. The staff must arrive at least an hour before the meeting for preparations and stay an additional hour after the meeting.

House committee meetings are held at around 8 am, before Parliament meetings. “It is common for us to work 10-12 hours a day without any allowance,” Belbase said. He said it was injustice to them and against the ILO Convention of 1930, to which Nepal is a party.

Article 3 of the Convention states, “The hours of work of persons to whom this Convention applies shall not exceed forty-eight hours in the week and eight hours in the day, except as hereinafter otherwise provided.”

The allowance for government staff was withdrawn following the Covid-19 pandemic. The government resumed the allowance in some state agencies, including the Election Commission and the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, but not in Parliament, said Belbase.

“If there is no assurance of additional allowance, we won’t work beyond office hours,” he said. It is not possible to manage the House committee meetings and the parliamentary proceedings within office hours.

The united staff worked on Friday wearing black armbands in a symbolic protest. They announced their plan to stage a sit-in in front of the Office of the Federal Parliament General Secretary for an hour starting Sunday. If their demands are not addressed, they will not work before and after office hours, the union leader said.

Even before the budget was tabled, Speaker Devraj Ghimire had requested Barsha Man Pun, the finance minister, to increase Parliament’s budget and resume the allowances for extra work. However, the money hasn’t been allocated in the new budget.