Manama: A Kuwaiti minister has referred several employees for investigation regarding their absenteeism.

The decision was taken by Abdul Aziz Al Ebrahim, the minister for electricity and water and state minister for municipality affairs, during an inspection visit to municipality centres on Wednesday evening.

“Any failure by any employee reflects negatively on the services provided by the municipality to citizens and expatriate residents,” the minister said. “There are many employees with high competence and work ethics standards and that is clear in their presence at the work sites and in carrying out the tasks assigned to them,” he said, quoted by Kuwait News Agency (Kuna).

The minister has been touring several municipality offices, centres and sites to “monitor possible deficiencies and assess commitment to best practices and services.”

Action is taken against employees who deliberately fail to meet the required standards.

With the approach of festive times and holidays, several public sector employees tend to show up late to work or leave early or not go to the office at all and either recuperate from staying up late or indulge in shopping.

Kuwait will celebrate Eid at the end of the month of Ramadan.

The festivities will start on Saturday or Sunday, depending on the sighting of the new moon.

Astronomers in Bahrain and Kuwait have predicted that Ramadan will end tomorrow and that the Eid will start on Sunday.

Both Manama and Kuwait City said that the break would be only three days while Doha said that the Eid holidays for public sector employees would last 12 days, including two weekends.