Ramadan working hours for freezone?

[dxbtiger]

I know the law is not religion specific, so if you work for a LLC you have to adhere to them but was it the law for freezone companies like TECOM etc.

No one seems to have a definitive answer (surprise surprise), can anyone point me in the right direction?

nb - 'Call TECOM' is not the right direction, tried that.

[shirt]

not sure. here in JAFZA it's 2pm. i am told i won't notice the difference as staying later is 'voluntary'

[dxbtiger]

shirt said:

not sure. here in JAFZA it's 2pm. i am told i won't notice the difference as staying later is 'voluntary'

Mu understanding is it applies regardless of where you work.

However I made enough noise about it (unsuccessfully) last year, don't want to be the same this year as I'll get my card marked...

Are you saying that effectively it will count against you if you leave?

Labour department fine if you have an office full of people after the end of a Ramadan working day.

Only fasters can leave early in my office as it stands, sucks

[mcbook]

We follow what the central bank says for both DIFC and the normal country locations - they have said 9am to 3pm. However, that is not what happens in practice - most people work until at least 5pm if they're not fasting.

Strictly speaking though, if someone wanted to leave at 3pm and they weren't fasting, we couldn't do anything to stop them.

[shirt]

dxbtiger said:

Are you saying that effectively it will count against you if you leave?

apparently a couple of years ago the shop floor got bawled out for maintaining the same productivity during ramadan, as it was implied they were being lazy sods the rest of the year.

pace of work in our office is high, so it'd be easy to fall behind if you left early. 99% of the expats work a normal day.

i'll only be here for 5working days during ramadan so not really bothered.

[IanUAE]

Normal working hours for me no matter whether I am in UAE / Oman / Saudi Arabia.

[K50 DEL]

We're in DDMC and only those fasting get the 6hr work day, the rest of us are all on normal time.

[dxbtiger]

K50 DEL said:

We're in DDMC and only those fasting get the 6hr work day, the rest of us are all on normal time.

Meh.... I think that is technically illegal, I just can't be the one that drives it in our office

[K50 DEL]

dxbtiger said:

K50 DEL said:

We're in DDMC and only those fasting get the 6hr work day, the rest of us are all on normal time.

Meh.... I think that is technically illegal, I just can't be the one that drives it in our office

According to our resident ex-pat law expert because we're a free zone the law doesn't apply in the same way.
Either way, we're all doing normal hours, though how much is actually going to get done, given we're in a Muslim country, dealing with another Muslim country remains to be seen.

[6th Gear]

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/employment/non-m...

[K50 DEL]

6th Gear said:

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/employment/non-m...

I think I owe you a pint or three.... passed this along to the bosses PA, and it got seen by the boss.
Working hours chaged to 6 a day!!

!cheers!

[6th Gear]

K50 DEL said:

6th Gear said:

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/employment/non-m...

I think I owe you a pint or three.... passed this along to the bosses PA, and it got seen by the boss.
Working hours chaged to 6 a day!!

!cheers!

Nice one!

[6th Gear]

K50 DEL said:

6th Gear said:

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/employment/non-m...

I think I owe you a pint or three.... passed this along to the bosses PA, and it got seen by the boss.
Working hours chaged to 6 a day!!

!cheers!

Nice one!

[dxbtiger]

I'm just waiting for the official email from TECOM to be mailed to me by a mate tomorrow then I am winging it off to my boss.

Days in lieu or overtime which is 5 figures will suffice as an apology