Fatima Muhammad

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — The Ministry of Labor has confirmed that workers will not need to work in the heat from July 15 to mid September.



It said it aimed to protect the safety and health of workers.



“The ministry continues to work hard to provide a safe environment that is free of danger and also works on enhancing safety measures in order to reduce work-related injuries or illnesses and increase productivity,” it said.



The ministerial decisions, issued back in 2010, stated no firms are allowed to force their employees to work in the heat from 12 noon to 3 p.m. each summer.



The only exceptions are petroleum, gas and emergency maintenance companies, which still need to take measures to protect their workers from the heat.



Every violating firm will have to pay for each breach of the directive a fine of SR3,000 to SR10,000.



The firms can also be closed for 30 days or even indefinitely. The punishment can also include both a fine and closure, or just closing down the offending section or department.



The ministry has set up a service line (920001173) to receive complaints regarding any violating company.



Raid Al-Oqail, an investor in the contracting sector, said though businesses are supporting the decision, they wanted the ministry to take into consideration that not all Kingdom regions have sizzling summers.



He said: “Some regions have suitable weather during the afternoon and workers can continue performing their tasks normally. Therefore, officials need to re-examine the decision and exclude these regions.”



Al-Oqail added that businesses are keen to protect the workers and provide a suitable environment to them.



“Some of our workers want to work fast to finish early but we force them to take a rest.”



Suhail Al-Tayar a member of the JCCI contracting committee, said: “We do not force workers to do what we can’t stand.



“We never let our employees work in the heat; we do this without the need of a ministerial decision.