|
Dubai: Companies across the UAE will have to pay more than Dh7 million in fines for violating the midday break rule, revealed the Ministry of Labour statistics.
Around 729 out of the 3,000-plus inspected companies across the country have broken the rule. The majority must pay a Dh10,000 fine each, and 14 companies broke the rule more than once.
Many companies were also caught violating health and safety regulations. Violations in Dubai and the northern emirates made up for more than 79 per cent of the total. To date around 300 companies have paid the fine and got the ban on their transactions lifted by the ministry.
The remaining companies still have their transactions stopped by the ministry in an effort to force them to pay their outstanding dues.
In additional to the fines and the stopping of transactions, the violating companies were all downgraded to category C, a penalty that increases the companies' expenses when dealing with the ministry.
Mohsen Ali Saeed, head of Abu Dhabi's Inspection Department at the Ministry of Labour, said inspection campaigns showed that the majority of companies adhered to the rule, but a large percentage of companies failed to provide air-conditioned rest rooms, cool water and mineral tablets to save workers from heat exhaustion.
"These companies were warned, but no fines were imposed."
In Abu Dhabi, the cases reported to Shaikh Khalifa Medical City in July dropped by 43 per cent to 125 compared with 218 cases during the same period last year, according to Saeed.
|
