(MENAFN- The Peninsula) As more Qataris are taking up jobs in the private sector, especially banks and financial institutions, questions are being raised over huge disparities regarding weekly offs and festival holidays for government and private sector employees.
While there are 10 to 15 days of holidays for Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha each for public servants, private sector workers are allowed only three to four days' of break.
Moreover, government employees work five days a week and mostly from 8am until 1pm, whereas private sector workers "slog" for six days a week and over eight hours a day, say citizens.
"Are we any less human or don't we work? Why should there be such discrimination between the two sectors?" asks Sulaiman Al Marri, a Qatari bank employee.
"I work in a local bank in a very challenging environment, working six days a week, while public servants put in lesser number of hours, so why should we be discriminated against? Why should we be given only three days of Eid holiday while state employees are allowed longer break?".
Al Marri told local Arabic daily Al Arab in remarks published yesterday: "It is literally fun and frolicking for government employees. Are we, engaged in the private sector, any less human?."
Another citizen, Khamees Al Kubaisi, said there was the need for the authorities to reduce the number of festival holidays in the government and ensure parity with the private sector.
"I don't quite understand why there should be such a disparity between the government and private sector. The holidays must be unified in the two sectors."
Al Kubaisi said this kind of disparity actually discourages Qataris from joining the private sector. If the holidays in the two sectors are unified, that would help the job nationalisation effort in the private sector, he said.
"It is sheer injustice with private sector workers," said Ahmed Al Subei, yet another national. There is the need to strike the right balance between the private and government sectors.
"If the holidays in the two sectors are unified, it would help Qatarisation in private companies," said Al Subei. "It would also end injustice."
Still another citizen who didn't want to be identified told the daily that longer holidays in the state sector mean immense harm to the national economy as employees' productivity suffers.
"This must end," said the citizen, adding that two kinds of law regulating holidays and weekly offs - one for private companies and the other for the government sector, were undesirable.
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