MADINA: The Ministry of Labor will be intensifying its inspections from July 1 to Aug. 31 to ensure all companies ensure their workers take a break between 12 noon and 3 P.M. to escape the scorching summer heat, it has been learned by Okaz/Saudi Gazette. The midday break rule was first implemented in 2007 as per a Cabinet decision that stipulated all outdoor work should come to a halt during these hours. The Ministry of Labor announced that workers made to toil during these hours, can report their companies anonymously on the ministry's hot line. Inspection teams have been set up in coordination with the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR), to enforce the midday work ban. Dr. Muhammad Bin Salem Al-Aoufi, Director of the NSHR's Branch in Madina, said the society had discovered over the few past weeks that several workers were directly exposed to the sun while working on service projects in Madina. He said the society had brought this violation to the attention of the authorities concerned at the Labor Office in Madina. The ministry considered this to be a violation of the rights of these workers. In response to this, he said the Director of the Labor Office in Madina decided to assign field inspectors to ensure the implementation of the ministry's decision. He said the society cannot punish violating companies because this falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Labor. He said some of the society's members visited the Labor Office in Madina and briefed the officials on these violations. The Ministry of Labor issued circulars earlier this month informing the Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the summer working hours law ahead of its introduction on July 1. The only exceptions to the law are workers at oil and gas companies and emergency maintenance workers, all of whom are required instead to “take the necessary measures to guard against harm from the sun's rays”. The law also stipulates that employees are to work no more than eight hours a day or 48 hours per week, depending on each company's schedule policy. Those hours are reduced in Ramadan for Muslims to six and 36, but can be increased to nine a day or reduced to six depending on the nature of the employee's work, its inherent dangers or repetitiveness. Offending companies will be subject to fines of between SR3,000 and SR10,000 for each offense, or closure for up to 30 days or permanent closure, or both fines and closure. The summer sun working hours law for the private sector was announced by the Ministry of Labor a few years ago, but has only been brought into effect this year in order to give firms time to adapt their work plans and avoid disrupting operations.
