Reduced Working Hours

With this title, almost every employee will feel optimistic; but there are those who will be upset about this decision, especially the owners of businesses that require periodic reference to the State; and as usual, with every new decision there will be disparity and clash in the society between supporters and opposers; however, there is a gray zone that requires some amendments, so that the decision will be suitable for all the segments of the society. The reform begins by updating the Labor System, especially the Articles (98) and (99); so that the number of working hours will be 6 hours per week, if the enterprise or the Ministry adopts the daily working hours standard, or 35 hours per week if the weekly standard is adopted; along with adding the night shift; so that the enterprise’s business will run for 12 hours in 5 days a week; and that is to keep up with the vision and its accompanying momentum in the businesses and the attracted and emerging enterprises. This system is applicable in Dubai, UAE, where the benefits of this system are reaped in terms of rapid achievement and strong productivity for the government departments, and despite the abundance of work, they do not find piled or disrupted transactions.

With this system, which includes the day and night shifts, we will achieve several goals and avoid several drawbacks; as the drawbacks of long working periods have an impact on the employee’s mental, physical and social health, and the employee will also feel bored, which in turn impairs his productivity; therefore, reducing the number of working hours will avoid all the above-mentioned drawbacks. With the addition of a second shift for the enterprise, we will avoid the disadvantages of reduced working hours, which are concentrated in the disruption of the transactions and the people’s interests; as there will be another shift for the Ministry, where the work will carry on in full swing for 12 hours. We also benefited from the advantages of reducing the number of working hours, as it generally affected the employee’s physical and social health; because he will have more time with his family and this reflects positively on his productivity.

Not to mention that this system will address the unemployment problem one way or another and increase the youth’s desire to apply to work in the private and government sectors; as one of the main reasons for the youth’s reluctance to work in the private sector is the long working hours and the permission to conclude a Zero Hour Contract, which is an applicable system in the UK; as it is a type of contract between the employer and the employee, where the employer is not committed to provide any minimum working hours, while the employee is not obliged to accept any offered work. The employee may sign an agreement to be available to work when needed, so as not to specify a certain number of hours or working hours, and if this law was introduced in the Labor System, a lot of the retired competencies in the private sector will benefit from it and at the same time the retired employee will invest his time in a job that he is not obliged to accept, and in case he accepts it, he will make money from it.

Written by

Naif Al-Qahtani