7.23 PM Friday, 29 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:56 06:10 12:26 15:53 18:37 19:52
29 March 2024

Staff complain flouting of Ramadan work timings

Published
By Staff

Protesting against alleged discrimination in the number of hours they are made to work, scores of non-Muslims are seeking the help of authorities to make their companies comply with rules during Ramadan.

Many employees complained that they are made to work longer hours than their Muslim colleagues despite Ministry of Labour’s order to the contrary, Gulf News reported.

Companies are required to reduce the regular work timing by at least two hours during Ramadan and those who do not comply with the rule face stiff penalties.

The MoL has said that if some companies want their employees to work more than 6-7 hours a day, then they need to pay the employees 150 per cent of their daily wages for the number of extra hours worked.

However, many workers have reported that rather than reducing their work hours, they are made to work over time with no extra payment.

Gulf News received a letter from a company's human resource department that called on all non-Muslim senior staff and managers to work the full day from 9am till 5pm — a total of nine hours.

"This is racism," said another reader who works for 12 hours every day in another company. He said his firm, to add insult to injury, is also refusing to pay overtime this year for extra hours put in by employees.

A senior ministry official told Gulf News that companies that do not reduce working hours for all their employees by two hours will face stiff penalties. He said the penalties could include a fine of up to Dh10,000 and a suspension of the firm's eligibility for labour permits for a specified period.

The ministry is currently inspecting firms to check compliance both with the Ramadan timings as well as with the midday break rule that prohibits outdoor work between 12:30 pm and 3 pm till September 15.

The ministry official, however, noted that it was impossible to check on all the 180,000 labour establishments across the UAE.