Four working days ‘would widen public and private hours gap’

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

A three-day weekend in Bahrain’s public sector would widen the gap with private-sector hours, add to overtime, and risk harming government services, the Civil Service Bureau (CSB) said.

The statement was made in reply to a question from Shura Council member Dr Bassam Al Binmohammed.

The bureau was answering a query on whether it had carried out a full study into cutting the working week to four days, with three days off at the weekend.

Pattern

It said the current pattern is governed by civil service law and related rules.

Staff on normal hours work from Sunday to Thursday, with Friday and Saturday as the weekly rest days.

Their hours run from 7am to 2.15pm from Sunday to Wednesday and from 7am to 2pm on Thursday, making a 36-hour week.

Other staff work longer hours, from 7am to 3pm from Sunday to Thursday. Those on roundthe-clock services work three shifts: 7am to 3pm, 3pm to 11pm and 11pm to 7am. In those cases, the weekly total is 40 hours.

Rules

The bureau said civil service rules also allow special working times for some government bodies, groups of staff and posts where the nature of the work calls for it, so long as weekly hours do not fall below 36 and staff get at least one weekly rest day.

Any work above 40 hours must be paid under overtime rules.

It added that it keeps pay, benefits, working days and working hours under review, and compares Bahrain’s civil service with practice elsewhere.

Comparisons

Those comparisons, it said, showed that Bahrain’s public sector week is close to the average in a number of countries, where the weekly mean stands at 37.4 hours.

It also said the Kingdom’s hours are close to those used across the Gulf.

The bureau said public sector staff in Bahrain already work fewer hours than those in the private sector.

Gap

The gap now stands at 12 hours a week, or about 33 per cent, when measured against the normal public sector week, it said.