Dubai: Generating high workplace productivity while helping Muslim workers observe the tenets of Ramadan can pose challenges for companies, experts say.
Reduced daily work hours for Muslim workers who are fasting can impact on output for business environments vying in a competitive global market place.
In the UAE, chapter four of the federal Labour Law, article No 65, stipulates that daily work hours will be reduced from eight hours to six hours during Ramadan, when adherents abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset.
“For employers in particular, religious observances such as Ramadan raise two competing interests: business continuity and performance on the one hand and cultural sensitivities on the other,” Mandeep Kalsi, of the UAE business law firm Hadef and Partners, said.
Categories: Middle East, United Arab Emirates