The Shoura Council on Monday stood by its earlier decision of 40-hour week and two-day weekend in the private sector. Muhammad Al-Jafri, deputy president, chaired the session of the Council that found that there is no need to review its earlier position of the two-day weekly off taken two years ago, the Saudi Press Agency reported. Yahya Al-Samaan, assistant president of the Council, said that the session decided to stick to the earlier decision of 40 hours of work in a week and 35 hours during Ramadan. One member said that sticking to 40-hour work is essential for boosting Saudization. He also called for fixing minimum salary for Saudis at SR6,000. Another member pointed out that long work hours are the major factor that discourages many young Saudis from taking up jobs in the private sector. The Council turned down suggestions made by some members to increase the work hours to 45 hours. One member said that reduction of working hours to 40 has increased social and security risks caused by the expatriate workers. The two-day weekend and reduction of work hours has pushed these workers to engage in other works in free time and thus they are instrumental in a big rise in foreign remittances, he said. Another member proposed six-hour duty for working women.
