King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has approved six regulatory decisions issued by the Council of Civil Service. These will see a number of payments made to civil servants across various government departments. The first decision orders the payment of 15 percent of basic salary to Saudis working in the area of security and safety as a “nature of work allowance”. The second one approves a request by the Ministry of Health for doctors and pharmacists to be paid a full-time allowance to be calculated according to the basic salary. The third decision approves the payment of an “infection allowance” to Saudi employees working as technicians at the agriculture ministry's laboratories. The fourth one cancels a decision exempting female employees in the health sector from working extra hours as overtime. The fifth decision approves a request by the Ministry of Health to provide accommodation to some non-medical administrators at the ministry's facilities, hospitals and housing units. The sixth decision orders the payment of a SR500 living allowance, in lieu of providing meals to employees working for the Directorate of Health Affairs in Makkah, who are assigned to work during Haj. It also includes those who work with government's Haj agencies and emergency teams. Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeah, Minister of Health and Chairman of the Health Services Council, announced Tuesday that the King approved a “full-time” allowance for doctors and pharmacists to be calculated on the basis of their basic salary as per the bylaw defining health vacancies. He said the King's decision is to encourage citizens working in all health sectors to provide quality services to the public. Under the new scale, the salaries of the medical staff working in government and specialist hospitals, including the National Guard, ministries of defense and aviation, interior, health and the Foundation of King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center have been brought at par to preempt any pay discrepancies. Al-Rabeah said there will be strict compliance with the new scale and no additional financial payments will be made.
