Work hours to be slashed for disabled Bahrainis
Manama, June 11, 2014
Disabled Bahrainis will get their working hours slashed under an amendment approved by parliament yesterday.
It will grant disabled people and those taking care of them two hours off work each day, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.
MPs voted in favour of a Shura Council amendment to the Care, Rehabilitation and Employment of Disabled Persons Law of 2006, despite opposition from the Education, Health and Labour Ministries as well as the Civil Service Bureau.
The government bodies were concerned that it could make disabled people unemployable, although the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry backed the amendment - saying it needed clear by-laws to avoid misuse.
It will be now ratified by His Majesty King Hamad.
Health Ministry medical commission head Ali Abdulsaleh suggested that not all of the 9,000 people registered as disabled in Bahrain actually qualified as such.
"We have 9,000 registered as disabled in Bahrain," he said.
"Are they all disabled? I don't think so.
"For that, we have asked the World Health Organisation (WHO) to help us set criteria and assess cases. We need a year and then we will suggest if it should go ahead or not."
Meanwhile, parliament approved Shura Council amendments to a new cybercrime law and political societies law, referring them to His Majesty for ratification.
MPs also approved a law to clamp down on fake products.
It had been referred again by His Majesty due to concerns that article 10 breached the Constitution, but amendments have been made that give courts the right to confiscate or destroy fake products.
Following bills were referred to the Shura Council for revision:
One allowing lecturers at Bahrain University to work until 65 or even 70 if needed, rather than the standard retirement age of 60;
Another to help HIV-positive patients that obliges the government to provide free medical and psychological care. - TradeArabia News Service
