Labour queries hit record number last month

The communications centre of the Ministry of Labour received 91,517 calls in January - the highest since 2007, according to a report in 'Al Khaleej'.

Te ministry attributes the rise to the new amendments to labour laws early this year.

Ahmed Al Shehi, Director of Customer Service, said most of the calls were related to laws on service terminations; job transfers and ban periods.

Last year the centre received 654,641 calls, an increase of 37 per cent compared to the 476,608 calls it received in 2009.

Anwar bin Sulayem, an official at the centre, said it receives about 3,000 calls per day since the beginning of this year, and the staff responds to the calls within 20 seconds. The centre takes calls on the toll-free number 800 665 between 8am and 11pm.