Public sector staff back to work with strict guidelines

Public sector employees in Saudi Arabia returned to their workplaces on Sunday after months of working from home due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development said the return to the workplace comes amid strict guidelines, preventative measures and protocols put in place by the authorities to ensure a safer work environment amid the pandemic.

The ministry has set a number of conditions for the return of all employees to their place of work, which require that employees follow measures like the continuation of only attending work according to flexible working hours and the suspension of the use of fingerprint at entrances.

Heads of government entities or their authorized deputies have been authorized to allow persons to request remote work, provided that their percentage of employees working from home does not exceed 25 percent of the total number of employees and that entities enable those who work remotely to perform their duties in a proper manner.

The decision to allow all public sector employees to return to work as of Aug. 30 came following a review of reports on the health indicators and data of Saudi cities and regions, according to an official source at the ministry.

The Kingdom first began suspending the attendance of employees at workplaces in March as part of various efforts authorities have put in place to combat the spread of the coronavirus.