Manama: Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council has rejected a proposal to extend the daily working hours in the public sector by one hour.
Only 10 members of the advisory council voted in favour of the proposal reportedly meant to boost productivity, while 99 opposed it.
“The main problem in the public sector is not the insufficiency of the working hours, but rather the lack of discipline and commitments during the formal working hours as attested by monitoring agencies and public administration studies,” members said, local daily Al Madina reported on Wednesday.
An extension of the working hours will require an increase in the number of employees in some government agencies, including public education schools, they said.
“Do we really believe that extending the working hours by one hour will boost productivity? Are there studies that have reached such a conclusion or are we here talking about impressions, wishful thinking or simple theories?” Shura Member Mishal Al Salmi commented.
One member said that the claim that the proposal would help narrow the gap between the private and public sectors was “unacceptable.”
“It is simply not fair to compare between the two sectors because the differences are quite big,” the member who was not named by the daily, said.
“The salary of the private sector employee is determined based on the profits of the company and the input of the staff, whereas the salary in the public sector is fixed by regulations,” the member said.
The proposal, submitted by Council Members Mohammad Al Naji and Ata Al Subaiti, said that public employees should be working eight hours a day, instead of seven, in order to boost productivity and bolster contributions to the nation’s development.
The extra hours would also reduce the differences between the public and private sectors since Saudi jobseekers tend to look for government jobs with fewer working hours and longer holidays.
Saudi authorities have been motivating their young citizens to seek opportunities in the private sector.
