Summer Hours for Workers!ٍ
A ban on outdoor work during the hottest hours of the day in July and August came into effect yesterday, following a decree issued by Labour Minister Dr Majeed Al Alawi.
It states morning shifts should not exceed five working hours, while full shifts should not exceed eight hours a day.
Labourers working more than eight hours must be paid overtime and a schedule, detailing daily working hours, must be placed in a visible area for workers and labour inspectors. They should not be working between noon and 4pm.
On Sunday, the Cabinet approved the move to protect labourers and other outdoor employees during the summer.
Expatriate workers’ rights groups praised the decision but a group of contractors said that thousands of dinars would be lost through slowdown in major projects. Via GDN
Finally some good news! I always felt bad for those laborers *cough* slaves *cough*, every time I drive past them in the streets. Be it the unbearable heat they have to work in, their unprotective light clothing and skinny bodies. It is about time someone takes some action for their favor.
We have all grown up to the story of how the public media does not announce it when the outdoor temperature exceeds 50 degrees Celsius, as there is a law that prohibits laborers to work in such extreme work conditions. Now regardless of how creditable this urban legend is, I am delighted that it didn’t take another catastrophe (Like that of the Dana Dhow, or the fire in the labor compound) for the authorities to move on this.
On a separate note and what’s really worth making a note of is the comical response of a group of contractors said that thousands of Dinars would be lost through slowdown in major projects, this statement was even further amplified by Arabic newspapers that suggested that the losses won’t be in thousand but actually millions of dinars!
And honestly now, I need someone to explain to me how a loss can be made on this. What if the worker was not allowed to work at noon! Heck, they have the entire day to work in.. and whatever happened to the concept of nightshifts?! What’s annoying is that the number of staff assigned to each job is very minimal, when in Dubai you see hundreds of workers assigned to a project working night and day in hope to minimize the time of work, you see a handful of workers working on the project here in Bahrain. We all clearly remember how long it took to construct the highway leading to diplomatic area from Seef.
And isn’t amazing how everything is solved in this country by decrees and laws! People are smoking in malls? Put a law that prohibits smoking! Unemployment is on the rise in the country? Put a law to deduct a percentage of net income! People are talking on the mobiles while driving? Easy, don’t educate people on the dangers of driving no no, just put a law that prohibits that, a fine and a jail sentence too! Now this, laborers are being abused by their long working hours? Don’t put a law that prohibits long hours, don’t put a law that applies throughout the year, don’t even ask those who are directly influenced by such laws on their take on this before issuing the decree. NO! Just issue the damn law, and print it on the front page of the all local newspapers, along with the praise by the local human right watchdogs!
A good day in wonderland, been a while!
Its always good to force contractors, and anyone else bringing in or hiring foreign labor from the poorer Asian countries to do things in a certain way through a similar sort of law. Most people who bring in foreigners treat them like dogs, if not worse, working for a measly wage. And the sad thing is, these people really do work hard at what they do, and without them, our country wouldn’t be anywhere near where it is today.
We still need to see stronger and more strict rules though, because, if left up the individuals themselves, we will see them work around it; “Ok, you cant work from 12-4, thats your sleeping time. You work the rest of the day and night.”
Allah yahdeena ajma3een
..حياكم الله و أبقاكم و ثبتنا وإياكم على الصراط المستقيم مولانا
I believe the new decree specified the maximum working hours and such, “Labourers working more than eight hours must be paid overtime and a schedule, detailing daily working hours, must be placed in a visible area for workers and labour inspectors. They should not be working between noon and 4pm.” Check the source story above
I have always wondered why construction work, especially road construction isn’t done at night with this heat. Not only would it ease the road congestion but it keep the laborers from having to work in such extreme heat. I understand prohibitions of night construction in residential areas however in all other cases it should be practiced.
The lame excuses that contractors come up with regarding anything that goes against their will, is digusting. Remember the rule against transporting laborers in open trucks? Remember all the fuss that contractors made because they were forced to transport their workers in a more humane manner? (I saw an open truck with about 10 laborers being transported on my way home from work today) Anyway, I hardly feel sorry when I hear these contractors whining about losing millions of dinars. Their pockets are fat enough.
You want to know where the loss is?
I don’t know if many people in Bahrain know this, but many if not all contractors in Bahrain give the poor labor 2 or 3 jobs to do during the day, specially the contractors that offer labor like cleaners and security services, reason being, if you have this poor soul working one job a day then you are only making money from one company where as when you have him working from three deferent companies they make you 2 times as much and by the time they are on the way home they don’t have the energy to go and work somewhere else with out making extra money for the company.
Now that the government have this break forced to them, they can’t use these 4 hours to send the guy work somewhere else coz one hour is lost on transport and another 3 minutes on him washing up and changing, and even if the manage to do that the worker will have no energy to go back and dig or drill or do what ever it is he is supposed to do.
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- Mohammed AlMaskati
East Riffa, Bahrain
I support a ONE Bahrain!
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