Parliament backs shorter hours, longer leave for civil servants aged 50 and above

TDT | Manama

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Three hours off the working day and up to 45 working days’ annual leave for older civil servants were approved by Parliament yesterday, after the Government raised concerns about fairness, staffing levels and cost, with the bill sent to the Shura Council for review.

The draft amends the Civil Service Law issued by Decree-Law No 48 of 2010.

It links shorter daily hours to age: a one-hour cut when an employee reaches 50, two hours at 55 and three hours at 60.

Annual leave would also rise in bands. Staff under 50 would keep 30 working days a year.

That would increase to 35 days at 50, 40 days at 55 and 45 days at 60.

Regulations

Detailed rules on how the leave is earned would be left to the executive regulations.

The Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee backed the bill in principle and recommended a wording change so the entitlement starts once an employee reaches the stated age, rather than applying only to those above it.

In its memorandum attached to the bill, the Government asked MPs to rethink the approach, arguing that age is not an objective basis to treat staff in the same grade differently, when they receive the same pay and job benefits.

It said the changes would sit uneasily with the civil service law’s approach of dealing with each grade as a single group.

Effects

The Government also warned of wider effects on day-to-day service delivery, pointing to the risk of disruption to public services, a wider gap between public and private-sector working hours, and added difficulty in monitoring attendance, especially for roles that run around the clock.

It said the move could add direct and indirect costs, with an impact on the state budget and the Fiscal Balance Programme.

The Civil Service Bureau agreed with the Government’s view, according to the report.