Some government workers in American Samoa facing cuts in their work hours from today are calling the move unfair.
The reductions depend on the salary being paid, but more than 2,500 employees in the government's executive branch are affected.
An employee earning less than 20 thousand US dollars annually loses 4 hours a fortnight and those on more than 62 thousand dollars face a 12 hour reduction.
But our correspondent, Fili Sagapolutele, says there's concern the measure exempts some staff, and that the action has been taken while new tax bills are still to be decided on.
"There's a lot of disappointment from several government employees about workers in the legislature not taking effect of this reduction of working hours, and there's been a lot of criticism of some lawmakers."
Fili Sagapolutele.
The government's estimated annual savings by reducing work hours is over 3 million US dollars.
