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96 break mid-day break rule

DUBAI — The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs detected 96 companies violating the four-hour mid-day break rule in the past two months.

The rule, which was implemented for the months of July and August to protect thousands of workers from the scorching sun by banning field work between 12.30 pm and 4.30 pm, comes to an end today.

Sulaiman Abdullah, Head of the Labour Inspection Department, said the ministry had carried out 126 inspection visits to project sites and reported 96 instances of violation of the rule, which was introduced for the first time in the country.

The ministry did not impose the Dh10,000 fine stipulated for violation of the rule, and had instead, asked the violators to submit an undertaking not to repeat the violation besides stopping dealings with errant companies, he said.

“Since this was the first year of the implementation of the rule, the ministry was lenient and did not impose the fine,” he said, adding: “Next summer, companies are expected to schedule their projects in a manner that facilitates implementation of the mid-day break.”

Besides, the ministry also gave permission to companies to carry out cement slab work since this kind of work had to be completed in one go besides taking a long time to complete, he said.

Companies which failed to notify the ministry in advance about carrying out concrete slab work and were caught working during the mid-day break were considered as violators and the ministry stopped dealings with them, he said.

He said that 76 errant companies had submitted the necessary undertaking not to repeat the violation. The remaining 20 failed to submit the undertaking and the ministry has not resumed dealings with them. The ministry has decided to impose Dh20,000 in case a company repeats the violation, double of Dh10,000 slapped for the first offence.

“None of the companies caught violating the rule repeated the offence,” he said.