(3 October 2020)
Ninety-nine percent of companies across the UAE have complied with the midday break rule, which started on 15th June, 2020, and ended on 15th September, 2020, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, MoHRE, announced on Friday.
''Over the three-month midday break rule, ministry inspectors conducted more than 145,000 field visits to ensure that the private sector companies had prepared a safe environment for workers toiling under direct sunlight,'' said Maher Al Obaid, Assistant Under-Secretary for Inspections at MoHRE.
Al Obaid said dozens of awareness workshops at worksites and workers' cities had been conducted where multi-language educational pamphlets were distributed.
The awareness campaigns included posting videos on social media platforms, SMS and WhatsApp, he added.
Now in its 16th year, the mandatory annual midday work break prohibits any outdoor labour work between 12:30 and 15:00 to ensure the wellbeing and safety of labourers working under direct sunlight and to protect them from heat exhaustion, heatstroke and coronavirus for three months.