Bahrain sacks absent employees

Bahrain is clamping down on absenteeism within its workforce following weeks of protests in the kingdom.

Gulf Air, one of the largest employers in the kingdom, has also been investigating absenteeism among its employees.

MANAMA // At least 30 workers at a company at Bahrain International Airport have been sacked for failing to show up at work as the state clamps down on absenteeism among public-sector employees.

Bahrain Airport Services (BAS), which handles about 48,000 flights and 9 million passengers a year, terminated the contracts of workers who were absent without official permission.

"We have got some people we haven't heard from for a long time, and as far as we're concerned, they're no longer part of the company," said Phil Bowell, the chief executive of BAS.

At least 30 employment contracts had been terminated, and the number was likely to rise, he said.

The government of the smallest Gulf economy said last week it was clamping down on absenteeism among public-sector employees as it tried to restore productivity after weeks of unrest.

Workers absent without official permission would be subject to action that could include a cut in salary or termination of employment, the government said.

The clampdown comes after a nationwide strike called by the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions, the kingdom's largest union association, was halted as workers were asked to return to duty last week.

Mr Bowell said worker absenteeism had not impaired the operations of the airport company, which has more than 2,000 employees.

Workers would face disciplinary action, up to being fired, if they failed to show up at work without permission for 10 business days, Mr Bowell said.

Gulf Air, one of the largest employers in the kingdom, has also been investigating absenteeism among its employees but has not confirmed whether any have been fired.

"Some people definitely did not come in to work, and we are going through the legal department to investigate why some people did not attend," said Mohammed Hulaiwah, a spokesman for Gulf Air.

Sayed Salman, the head of the General Federation, has criticised the government's announcement and urged companies not to fire employees for participating in the nationwide strike.

There have been reports of security forces targeting specific people at various companies.

A senior member of an aviation company in Manama said workers at his company had been targeted by the government last week. "[Employees] were questioned on their attendance and whether they'd taken leave," said the source.

The security forces "were trying to use those questions to get the employee to answer specific questions on whether they'd been part of protests", the person said, adding that several workers were questioned and one was apprehended.

An investigation into absenteeism over the past month has been launched at the state-owned Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco), according to local media reports.

A committee has been set up to uncover irregularities in the company that are believed to have damaged Bapco's economic performance, harming the kingdom's economy in the process, Gulf Daily News reported, quoting Khalifa al Dhahrani, the speaker of Bahrain's parliament.

Bapco, which has a daily production capacity of more than 250,000 barrels of crude, has curtailed its output. Bapco's management said the fall in production was related to maintenance work, not worker absenteeism.