Hassan Cheruppa

Saudi Gazette

 

RIYADH – The Ministry of Labor has emphasized that there is no plan to scrap a 40 work-hour week and a two-day off for the private sector employees.



Tayseer Al-Mofrej, director of the media center at the ministry, said the proposal is a major highlight of the new labor law draft. The official denied reports in some media outlets that the ministry had removed the five-day week proposal from the draft law. “This is totally incorrect,” the Saudi Press Agency cited him as saying.



Al-Mofrej said the draft has been referred to the concerned higher authorities. “The ministry has not scrapped any items or regulations from the draft before presenting it to the higher authorities,” he said while urging the media to verify the truth before publishing any reports. “The authenticity of such things could be verified through visiting the ministry’s website or its reliable accounts on the social media,” he said.



Reacting to the ministry’s statement, senior executives told Saudi Gazette that the decision would encourage more Saudis to take up jobs in the private sector. Kavungal Mohammed, assistant vice president of Marsh Saudi Arabia of the New York-based global risk management consultants Marsh Inc., welcomed the ministry’s position saying it will attract Saudi youth to take up jobs in the private sector.



Echoing Mohammed’s view, International Indian School-Jeddah Principal Syed Masood Ahmed said the five-day week will enhance efficiency and productivity. “The Ministry of Labor has come to this conclusion after conducting several surveys and studies in this regard. It will attract more Saudis to the private sector,” he said adding that schools are among major beneficiaries of the five-day week in terms of bringing out maximum productivity.  



Sanil Balakrishnan Nair, head of operations, State Bank of India-Jeddah, said that the Kingdom’s banking sector is the best example of increased efficiency and output for the private sector with adopting a five-day week. The ministry’s assertion on the five-day week issue came amid reports that owing to huge pressure from businessmen, there were plans to scrap the move altogether.



In February this year, the Shoura Council decided with an overwhelming majority to stick to its earlier decision for a 40 work-hour week. Several members of the Council favoring 40-hour week drew attention to the international studies and experiments showing the positive impact of reduced work hours on the social and health aspects resulting in an increase in efficiency and productivity. Those who opposed the move noted that there are about eight million expatriate workers, with whom work contracts have been signed for 48 work hour a week, and reducing it would make all services and products more costly. This would also make housing expensive for Saudis by 30 percent.