Do you still remember the Reform Party's election slogan of "Tax Free Fridays"? It envisioned lowering the income tax rate from 22 percent to 18 percent, even though a Reform-led government is now on track to return to 22 percent. What we have instead are state-free Fridays.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit, people stayed in their home office if at all possible and soon took a liking to the arrangement. Books and articles were written about it, while productivity and team spirit suffered. How else to explain mounting efforts in the private sector to return employees to the office?

But there is a sector were efficiency is not on the most wanted list. We are talking about the public sector and its agencies, with the entire Estonian bureaucracy now spending their Fridays working from home. Or who knows whether they really are working. Perhaps public servants are instead taking care of their Christmas shopping and going to yoga classes or the hairdresser's while they should be working. Because it is hopeless for members of the press to get state representatives to comment on matters, especially appear in front of a camera, on the last day of the workweek. However, news still need to be reported seven days a week.

Attempting to contact a state agency's communication department on a Friday runs the all too real risk of not being able to get hold of the press representative at all. Sending a short message fetches a busy reply and a request to send the questions in by email. And should you want someone from the agency to appear on camera, you are told 98 times out of 100 that the person is away from Tallinn/Tartu, or whichever other city they might be based in, and working from home.

"But we have correspondents all over Estonia, just tell us where the official lives and we can dispatch one of our colleagues!" the journalist offers. "No, they will not be available to appear on camera today, here or there," an SMS from the press representative eventually dashes hopes. But there's always Monday, or you can call them."

One cannot help but think that Fridays have been turned into a day off in the public sector, where people are tidying up at home or taking care of other personal business, working only enough to address particularly pesky phone calls or short messages, in passing.

Ahti Kuningas, secretary general of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, also recently admitted that people are more efficient working in the office, and that the ministry is trying to get its staff to come in, at least in the first half of the week. But this is hardly a prevalent attitude in other ministries and state agencies.

If a state institution has picked out people whose job involves talking to the press, they should be prepared and obligated to be available for interviews during every day of the workweek, also in front of a news camera if necessary. It would be peculiar to only rely on phone interviews on TV, which is after all a visual medium.

The public sector is obligated to explain what it's doing every day, not just when it fits in with their schedule. Omitting a day means the state just isn't there for the public on Fridays. Reporting-free Fridays for internal use only are not compatible with the principles of open governance no matter how you slice it. It is something the private sector might be able to afford, while they actually make a far greater effort and are more willing to appear on camera on a Friday.

Public administration in Estonia needs its own Elon Musk to make it more efficient – for the benefit of society. And the state's reporting obligation is undoubtedly a part of efficiency, as how would we know what our country is doing and spending its time on otherwise.

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