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29 March 2024

UAE imposes mid-day break rule from June 15 to Sept.15

Published
By Wam

The Ministry of Labour issued today an ordinanace imposing a country-wide ban on outdoor work between 12.30 and 3.00pm from June 15 until September 15 this year.

The ordinance was signed by Labour Minister Saqr Ghobash renewing the mid-day break for outdoor workers for the eighth consecutive year.

Previously the mid-day break was given for a period of two months, but since the last two years the summer rule has been extended for three months as part of the keenness of the ministry on the labour welfare.

The ordinance stipulated that employers should provide their workers with shaded places of rest during the recess period.

The ordinance also said that if a worker is working more than eight hours a day, he will be entitled to over-time wages as per the Federal Labour Law and its amendments.

The ordinance also makes it mandatory on the employing firms to publish daily schedule of working hours in Arabic and the languages the workers can understand in order to help the labour inspectors to follow-up the implementation of the rule.

It also committed the employers to adopt all the necessary preventive methods and safety rules to protect the workers from industrial injuries and occupational diseases as per the Labour Law.

The rule gives exemptions to works which requires uninterrupted work for technical reasons, provided that the employer is obliged to provide cold drinking water in proportion to the number of employees, as well as to observe rules of safety and public health.

It also makes it mandatory on the employer to provide first aid in the workplace and the means of appropriate industrial cooling and protective umbrellas which will give workers shade from direct sunlight.

The ordinance also stated that in case of violation of the rules set forth, the employer will be penalised and each case of breach will attract a monetary penalty of AED 15000. In the event of recurring violation, the inspectors will raise memoranda containing statement of violation and the number of workers who were employed during the break time to consider the re-classification of the firm in light of the offenses and in accordance with the classification criteria.