Sharjah: The Sharjah Department of Human Resources has announced in a circular that in view of the exceptional circumstances over the COVID-19 pandemic and the government’s concern for the safety of its employees and to ensure complete adherence to the precautionary measures, while maintaining service continuity, the competent authorities have been allowed to take all or any of the measures mentioned in the circular, according to the nature of work.

The circular mentions implementation of the remote working system for employees, starting Sunday, February 14, according to the percentage determined by the competent authority and in a manner that does not cause service disruption or reduce the overall performance of the employer. Employees whose duties require their presence at their workplaces will be exempted from this new measure, provided that the employer provides the highest level of health safety and security to those employees. Those employees must not be crowded at one place and physical distancing between them must not be less than two metres.

Work must also be distributed between these employees in a manner so that they can attend their workplaces on a weekly basis and their attendance rate must not be less than 50 per cent to ensure continuity of service.

The circular also alerted all employees about the need to adhere to the security and safety measures and take necessary precautions to preserve their safety and the safety of their colleagues while they are at their workplaces. The circular also noted that all violations of precautionary measures will come under Executive Council Resolution No (35) of 2020, to contain COVID-19.

Dr Tariq Sultan bin Khadim, member of the Executive Council of Sharjah and Chairman of the Department of Human Resources, highlighted the importance of the commitment by all parties, “employers and employees”, to strictly apply all precautionary measures and measures that guarantee public safety.