Changes to a new public austerity bill going through the CNMI legislature would allow government department heads more flexibility in cutting employees' work hours.
The bill originally proposed so-called Austerity Fridays which would have meant shutting down government offices every other Friday to cut costs.
In June thousands of government employees missed receiving their pay on time because of lack of funds.
The latest change proposes cutting work hours by eight hours per pay period on a flexible basis and the administration wants to exempt as few employees as possible from the law.
