More than 40 companies violated the mid day break rule—during the afternoon hours in summer, a senior official from the Ministry of Manpower (MoM) said on Monday.

This comes after the Ministry had issued a directive to all companies in the country to stop work under direct sunlight between 12.30pm and 3.30pm, from June to August. “The mid-day break aims to provide relief to workers from the rising summer temperatures,” it had pointed out. 

For this, the ministry teams visited more than 470 institutions all over the country. The ministry’s efforts were aimed at providing a healthy working environment for the workforce employed in the private sector. “Out of the 470 inspections made, 43 firms were found to not have stopped work during this time in June,” a senior official at MoM said.

In 2016, some 254 companies were warned and four fined during the course of 2,332 inspections. Officials said intensive inspections are being organised at work sites to ensure compliance with the provisions of the mid-day break rule.

He also said regulations on occupational safety and health at facilities governed by the Labour Law issued by Ministerial Decision No. 286/2008, Article 16, also prohibit the employment of workers at construction sites or in open spaces during periods of high temperatures, such as during the afternoon hours from 12:30pm to 3:30pm in the months of June, July, and August.

Article 118 of the Labour Law states that violators would be penalised either with a fine or a jail term or both. “Also, repeated violations would lead to the high penalty,” an official said. The ministry’s stance has been welcomed by the workers of countries, such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, the majority of which are construction workers.

However, a section of workers argued that they were forced to either suspend work for three hours at an under construction building or sleep on the roads near the site.

Some companies are changing their working hours as mandatory mid-day breaks kick in from Thursday.

“Now we end up working for more hours in the sun than before as we begin early. We earlier used to start at 7am but now we have to start at 6am,” said a labourer at a construction site in Ruwi.

The teams will continue inspections on weekends and holidays until the end of August.

Source: Timesofoman