UAE’s mandatory midday work break starts June 15

UAE’s mandatory midday work break starts June 15
The UAE’s mandatory midday break for all outdoor workers is being implemented for the 19th consecutive year. (AFP file photo)
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Updated 02 June 2023
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UAE’s mandatory midday work break starts June 15

UAE’s mandatory midday work break starts June 15
  • Working in open spaces and under direct sunlight is not allowed from 12:30 p.m. until 3:00 p.m.
  • Companies are also required to provide shaded areas where workers can rest during the midday break

DUBAI: The UAE’s mandatory midday break for all outdoor workers will start on June 15, the 19th consecutive year the ban has been enforced to protect employees from the intense summer heat.

Working in open spaces and under direct sunlight is not allowed from 12:30 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. until Sept 15 this year, with daily working hours in both morning and evening shifts restricted to eight hours.

Any employee made to work more than eight hours in a 24-hour period will be considered to have worked overtime and must be compensated for it.

Companies are also required to provide shaded areas where workers can rest during the midday break.

Employers found flouting the regulations will be fined approximately $1,360 for each worker they require to work during required midday break, with a maximum of $13,614 penalty in case multiple workers are involved.

The implementation of the midday break is in line with Ministerial Resolution No. (44) of 2022 on Occupational Health and Safety and Labor Accommodation, which aims to provide adequate working environments that protect workers from occupational hazards and prevents work-related injuries or illnesses, a report from state news agency WAM said.

“We are confident that employers across the country will comply with the provisions of the ban. Over the past years, we have seen impressive compliance rates, which confirms the level of awareness in the market about the importance of this decision and its effective role in protecting workers from the hazards of direct exposure to sunlight or working in open spaces around naloon,” according to Mohsen Al-Nassi, assistant undersecretary for inspection affairs at the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation.

There are however exemptions to the midday break, particularly jobs that “require work to continue uninterrupted and they are exempted from implementing the midday work ban for technical reasons,” WAM reported.

These include laying asphalt or pouring concrete – when it is impractical to postpone these tasks – as well as works needed to contain hazards or repair damage that affects the community, such as interruptions to water supply or electricity, cutting off traffic, and other major issues.

“The exemptions also include works that require a permit from a relevant government authority to be implemented, given their impact on the flow of traffic and services. These tasks require non-stop work, including cutting or diverting main traffic routes, power lines, and communications,” WAM said.

Employers are also required to provide sufficient cold drinking water for workers exempted from the midday ban, as well as provide hydrating food, such as salts and/or other food items approved for use by the local authorities.


Egypt condemns Israel’s decision to build new settlement in East Jerusalem

Egypt condemns Israel’s decision to build new settlement in East Jerusalem
Updated 06 December 2023
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Egypt condemns Israel’s decision to build new settlement in East Jerusalem

Egypt condemns Israel’s decision to build new settlement in East Jerusalem
  • First settlement plan to be fully approved by the Israeli government since 2012
  • About 700,000 Israeli settlers are living in 164 settlements and 116 outposts in the occupied West Bank

CAIRO: Egypt has condemned Israel’s decision to build a new settlement in occupied East Jerusalem.

According to left-wing Israeli organization Ir Amim, which monitors the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in Jerusalem, it is the first settlement plan to be fully approved by the Israeli government since 2012.

In a statement, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry called the move “a new blatant violation of international decisions and the UN Security Council resolutions regarding the illegitimacy of Israeli settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories.”

The ministry stressed Egypt’s categorical rejection of the Israeli settlement policies in the entire occupied territories, including East Jerusalem, and its repeated attempts to undermine the existing legal, historical, and demographic context in an effort to separate parts of the land from its Palestinian surroundings.

It demanded that Israel halt its illegal settlement activities.

The statement reiterated Egypt’s call to influential international parties, including the UN and its relevant bodies, to shoulder their responsibilities in protecting the rights of the Palestinian people and to halt unilateral Israeli settlement operations that undermine the foundations of peace.

The statement stressed the need for Israel to stop exploiting the world’s preoccupation with the war it is waging against the Palestinian people in Gaza to intensify its illegal practices in the West Bank, including settlement activities.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.

About 700,000 Israeli settlers are living in 164 settlements and 116 outposts in the occupied West Bank, adjacent to East Jerusalem.


CNN producer Ibrahim Dahman loses nine relatives in Israeli strike on Gaza

CNN producer Ibrahim Dahman loses nine relatives in Israeli strike on Gaza
Updated 06 December 2023
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CNN producer Ibrahim Dahman loses nine relatives in Israeli strike on Gaza

CNN producer Ibrahim Dahman loses nine relatives in Israeli strike on Gaza
  • Israel resumed combat operations after a seven-day temporary truce with Hamas
  • Dahman’s childhood home in Gaza City has been destroyed in the Israeli offensive

DUBAI: CNN producer Ibrahim Dahman lost nine relatives in an Israeli air strike in northern Gaza, CNN reported.

Dahman had escaped to Egypt with his family, but on Sunday heard news that at least nine family members were killed when the building they were living in Beit Lahia took a direct hit by an Israeli strike.

His uncle, and the uncle’s wife, daughter and two grandchildren, as well as his aunt, her husband and two children perished, while at least two other relatives are in critical condition and others are still buried under the rubble.

Dahman’s childhood home in Gaza City was also destroyed in a separate strike on an adjacent building the same day, CNN reported.

“I will never be able to forget every stone and corner of the house in which I was born and raised and in which my children were born,” Dahman said in the CNN report.

“They were extremely peaceful and simple people, and their entire lives were devoted solely to work and raising their sons and daughters. They have no affiliation with any organization or group… Pray to God to have mercy on them all.”

Dahman’s brother had earlier called to tell him that his home in Gaza City, where he was born and grew up, has been reduced to ruins by the Israeli bombardment.

He had just finished renovating the apartment months before the Hamas attack, and told CNN he had fond memories living there, including celebrating his sons’ birthdays with cake and candles surrounded by family.

“Unfortunately, I left all my memories, my belongings, and the gifts that my bosses sent me at work in this house, all of which were lost under the rubble now.”

Israel’s military resumed combat operations against Hamas in Gaza last week after accusing Hamas of violating a seven-day temporary truce by firing toward Israeli territory.

The seven-day pause, which began on Nov. 24 and was extended twice, had allowed for the exchange of dozens of hostages held in Gaza for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and facilitated the entry of humanitarian aid into the shattered coastal strip.

Israel has sworn to annihilate the Palestinian militant group, which rules Gaza, in response to the Oct. 7 rampage when Hamas gunmen killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostages.


Russia’s Putin meets with UAE president in Abu Dhabi during Middle East visit

Russia’s Putin meets with UAE president in Abu Dhabi during Middle East visit
Updated 30 min 10 sec ago
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Russia’s Putin meets with UAE president in Abu Dhabi during Middle East visit

Russia’s Putin meets with UAE president in Abu Dhabi during Middle East visit
  • UAE President welcomes Russian leader at official reception held at Qasr Al-Watan

ABU DHABI: President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday landed in the UAE for a rare visit outside the former Soviet Union, UAE state media reported, as Moscow seeks to reassert itself on the global stage.

“Putin’s plane has landed in Abu Dhabi,” the state-run RIA Novosti also reported on social media, while Russian state television showed Putin being greeted by officials on the runway.

The Russian president’s plane was accompanied by a number of military aircraft to greet Putin upon entering the UAE airspace.

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed greeted Putin at an official reception held at Qasr Al-Watan. The Russian leader’s convoy was accompanied by a group of honor guards mounted on Arabian horses.

Sheikh Mohamed welcomed his “dear friend” and UAE jets greeted the Kremlin chief with a fly-past trailing the colours of Russia's flag.

The two countries’ national anthems were played and a 21-gun salute fired as part of a welcoming ceremony, WAM reported.

An Emirati air display then followed, painting the sky in the colors of the Russian flag.


Iran says it sent a capsule with animals into orbit as it prepares for human missions

Iran says it sent a capsule with animals into orbit as it prepares for human missions
Updated 06 December 2023
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Iran says it sent a capsule with animals into orbit as it prepares for human missions

Iran says it sent a capsule with animals into orbit as it prepares for human missions
TEHRAN, Iran: Iran said Wednesday it sent a capsule into orbit carrying animals as it prepares for human missions in coming years.
A report by the official IRNA news agency quoted Telecommunications Minister Isa Zarepour as saying the capsule was launched 130 kilometers (80 miles) into orbit.
Zarepour said the launch of the 500-kilogram (1,000-pound) capsule is aimed at sending Iranian astronauts to space in coming years. He did not say what kind of animals were in the capsule.
State TV showed footage of a rocket named Salman carrying the capsule into space.
Iran occasionally announces successful launches of satellites and other space crafts. In September, Iran said it sent a data-collecting satellite into space. In 2013, Iran said it sent a monkey into space and returned it successfully.
It says its satellite program is for scientific research and other civilian applications. The US and other Western countries have long been suspicious of the program because the same technology can be used to develop long-range missiles.

Iran Revolutionary Guards seize two vessels smuggling 4.5 million liters of fuel — Tasnim

Iran Revolutionary Guards seize two vessels smuggling 4.5 million liters of fuel — Tasnim
Updated 06 December 2023
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Iran Revolutionary Guards seize two vessels smuggling 4.5 million liters of fuel — Tasnim

Iran Revolutionary Guards seize two vessels smuggling 4.5 million liters of fuel — Tasnim

DUBAI: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ Navy have seized two vessels smuggling 4.5 million liters of fuel, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday.
Tasnim said 34 foreign crew have been detained by the Guards in the operation.
Iran, which has some of the world’s cheapest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies and the plunge in the value of its national currency, has been fighting rampant fuel smuggling by land to neighboring countries and by sea to Gulf Arab states.