Govt awards holidays to good Catalan speakers

THE Balearic government gave official approval yesterday to a scheme awarding five days consecutive holiday to civil servants able speak a level of Catalan over and above the necessary legal requirement. Government spokesman Joan Flaquer said the move is part of a project to encourage civil servants to speak the regional language, thus providing an improved quality service to local Balearic people.
Exempt from this scheme are those who are employed in the health and teaching sectors who function according to their own rules. Specifically, an extra five-days holiday will be awarded for each of the recognised language certificates obtained, ranking over and above the level that needs to be attained for entry into regional government employment. Civil servants who believe they are eligible for the prize need to make application for their extra holiday. All hopefuls must expect to wait three months before being given the official “OK”; the days off need to be taken either in the current or ensuing working year.