The Shoura Council has refused to annul its previous approval to allow private sector workers to have a two-day weekend and reduce working hours to 40 hours a week.

Both the Labor Ministry and the Shoura Council favored the move as a means of attracting Saudis to private sector jobs. The decision would make the private sector more competitive with the public one.

The MoL also recently warned sponsors against forcing their staff to work on the weekend. Violators will be fined. The same directive also confirmed that a weekend that falls during annual leave cannot be included in the vacation period.

The Committee on Administration and Human Resources at the council stood by its last decision, as it had not been convinced by the argument of the Council of Saudi Chambers (CSC) and Riyadh Chamber to retain a 48-hour working week with one day off.

The body stressed the need to maintain amendments to articles 98,100,104 in the labor rules; it said that any hesitation would weaken the power of the new system in attracting workers at the expense of other amendments to make the system more attractive for the investor and employer.

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