UAE finds 99.88% compliance for midday break rule

The UAE’s ministry of labour has noted that 99.88 per cent of firms complied with the ban on midday break as of June 30, state news agency WAM reported.

The compliance rate was noted during the inspection visits conducted by the labour ministry to construction sites across the country.

Authorities said that they fined 11 firms that were flouting the rule within this time frame.

The UAE has currently put in place a ban on labourers carrying out any work under direct sunlight from 12.30pm to 3pm. The ban was enforced from June 15 and will end on September 15, when the temperatures in the UAE usually begin to cool off.

Along with the work ban companies are also required to provide shaded areas for workers to rest during the break and keep them informed of their work schedule.

The working hours during this period will be divided into two shifts with each lasting for eight hours, according to the UAE’s labour rules.

The workers will also have to be compensated if they are working overtime, UAE’s minister of labour Saqr Ghobash said in a previous circular.

The ministry said that it conducted nearly 10,430 site visits this year across the UAE to gauge the compliance of the ban.

“Through 18 inspectional teams, we carried out 1544 inspectional visits in Abu Dhabi, and 985 visits in Al Ain; Dubai saw 1983 visits, 1361 visits in Sharjah, 1068 visits in Ajman, 1369 visits in Ras al-Khaimah, 1381 visits in Umm Al Quwain and 728 inspectional visits in Fujairah,” said the ministry’s assistant under-secretary for inspectional affairs Maher Al-Obed.

He reiterated that the companies found flouting the ban will be fined Dhs 5,000 per worker while firms could accrue as much as Dhs 50,000 if more workers were found to be working during the prohibited time.

The company’s profile could also be forwarded to the ministry where officials could either reduce its classification level or might even stop operations.