It has been announced that workers in the private sector will have two hours cut from their days during Ramadan.
Employees in all enterprises, institutions and private-sector companies will work the reduced hours without any impact on wages.
The Ministry of Labour will continue to provide services to customers in labour offices from 9am to 5.30pm and will carry out inspections during the holy month, except on Fridays and Saturdays. The ministry will apply a flexible working hours system among staff to ensure service provision.
The announcement came from Minister of Labour Saqr Ghobash, and is an implementation of the provision of Article 65 of Federal Law number eight of 1980 concerning the regulation of labour relations.
School pupils will also see a reduced working school day across the UAE as the holy month overlaps with the last days of the academic calendar.
The Knowledge and Human Development Authority, Dubai’s private school regulator, has directed all private schools to open from 8.30am to 1.30pm, so school will begin later and end earlier than the regular schedule.
The private school regulator also asked that break times be shortened. The new schedule applies to all grade levels and for all pupils, said Mohammed Darwish, the KHDA’s chief of regulations and permits commission. “It is important that fasting students are supported to continue with normal school life,” he said.
“To accommodate their needs, the school should ensure they do not engage in demanding physical activities and are not exposed to heat to reduce the risk of dehydration.”
He said that eating and drinking would be confined to designated areas of the schools “out of respect for the holy month and for fasting students, staff and parents”.
Teachers will keep the hours according to their contracts with the school and labour laws, which allow fasting Muslims to work six hours a day.
A moon-sighting commission has been established to detect the crescent moon and will meet after Maghrib prayer on Tuesday.
The Sharjah Planetarium astronomical calculations have predicted that Ramadan for the year 1436 Hijri is likely to begin on Thursday, June 18, 2015.
- The National
