Last month Minister of Labor Ghazi Al-Gosaibi announced that beginning next summer the law will require employers to give their outdoor workers a break between noon and 3 p.m. in the months of July and August when temperatures soar to dangerous heights.

However, HRC President Bandar Al-Iban said employers should do what the government has not done: Make this rule effective immediately.

“We are asking business owners to make protecting their workers a top priority and realize the dangers of allowing them to work in the heat. We are asking them to create a reasonable work schedule avoiding the hottest hours when the sun is at its peak,” Al-Iban said.

The HRC has asked the Civil Defense to alert employers and work site managers of the dangers to outdoor workers in extreme heat.

According to Ali Al-Hakami, a senior scholar and member of the Supreme Judiciary Council, forcing workers to work in extreme conditions is not only a violation of human rights but is also forbidden in Islam. If it is proved that a worker died because he was forced to work in dangerous conditions — including extreme heat — his family members can claim blood money, Al-Hakami said in a statement earlier this month.