Source : arabnews/node/322566 # Friday-Saturday weekend in JCCI from next month JEDDAH: Starting April 1, the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) will be switching its weekend from Thursday-Friday to Friday-Saturday. The JCCI board of directors has unanimously approved the move. “The change in holidays will not affect the attestation of documents on Saturdays as the department will remain open all week except Fridays,” JCCI Vice Chairman Abdullah Marei Bin Mahfouz said, adding that all the 11 board members endorsed the change. Labor Minister Ghazi Al-Gosaibi issued a decision earlier this month allowing companies in the private sector to change the weekend holidays to Fridays and Saturdays instead of Thursdays and Fridays. “This decision is in line with the Labor Ministry’s instruction that all private sector institutions provide their staff a two-day break on weekends,” Bin Mahfouz said. Companies now have the freedom to change their weekend without prior permission from the ministry, but have to inform the ministry when the change takes effect. Ulfat Qabbani, a board member, said the decision came following a similar move by Asharqiya Chamber about two months ago. “This will encourage private companies to provide their employees an additional day of rest, especially in the wake of growing calls for such a decision,” she said. Government employees have been enjoying this for many years. Mohammed Bukhari, owner of Al-Sharq Shipping Co., welcomed the move, saying it would reduce the gap between the weekend holidays in the Kingdom and most other countries. “This difference actually had created a communication gap of four days,” he said, adding that the new decision would further smoothen business relations with other countries. However, many chamber employees opposed the move and wanted to retain the previous Thursday-Friday weekend. In another decision, the JCCI board increased salaries of its staff by up to SR700. According to analysts, the decision reflects the vibrancy of the Saudi economy despite the global recession.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Jul 2013 09:05:27 +0000
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