Companies to pay Dh5m in fines for violating break law

Dubai: Companies in Dubai and the northern emirates will have to pay more than Dh5 million in fines for violating the midday break rule, the Ministry of Labour statistics revealed.

Around 587 out of the 2,662 inspected companies in Dubai and Northern Emirates have broken the rule. The majority must pay a Dh10,000 fine each, and 11 companies broke the rule more than once.

The majority of the companies were also caught violating health and safety regulations. Violations in Dubai and Sharjah made up more than 70 per cent of the total.

To date 261 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.

The Ministry of Labour had issued a decision that stipulated a compulsory midday break between July 1 and August 30.

Penalties

The break was set between 12.30 and 3pm and penalties were enforced on companies not adhering to the rule.

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.

Abdullah Bin Suloom, head of Dubai's Investigation Unit at the Ministry of Labour, said the fact the ministry was stricter than last year led to more commitment from companies.

According to Bin Suloom the implementation of the rule has helped reduce the cases of heat exhaustion.

"Cases of heat exhaustion and stroke have reduced drastically, dropping from an average of 17 cases a day to 10," he said.

"More inspectors are needed next year to enable us to carry out more inspections and a better planned awareness campaign is needed," said Bin Suloom.