Bahraini proposal to give month's salary to pilgrims rejected

Manama: Bahrain’s Civil Service Bureau has turned down a proposal to give a one month salary to public sector employees planning to go on pilgrimage.

This proposal clashes with the texts and regulations governing holidays and days off in the public sector.

Very importantly, it adds privileges and advantages to the government sector, making it much more attractive than the private sector to people applying for jobs, a spokesperson for the Civil Service Bureau said.

The proposal, submitted by an MP, was subsequently rejected by the Services Committee at the lower house.

Accepting the proposal will widen the gap between public and private sector employees, especially that there are now efforts to narrow down differences to boost employment opportunities, the committee said.

Would-be pilgrims, regardless of their nationalities, currently are given a 14-day paid leave to perform haj. The holiday is given only once to any Muslim employee who spent two years on the job.

The government had suggested a 10-day paid leave given after five years of employment, but the lower house in March voted to bring it down to two years and to increase the leave to two weeks.

The labour ministry and labour funds have been facing formidable resistance from Bahraini job-seekers to get enrolled in the private sector where they will have to work six days a week instead of five and longer hours and will have less official holidays.

The business community has repeatedly rejected calls to give the same number of holidays as the public sector.