The Control and Investigation Board (CIB) expects more government workers to be absent from work three days before this year's Haj holiday than during the same period last year. A CIB source told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that 25 percent of government employees were illegally absent from work during the Haj season over the last few years. This had a negative impact on the performance of government agencies and the provision of services for citizens. CIB field teams will start monitoring government workplaces from Dhul Hijja 2 (Oct. 29) and will record all attendance and leave registers. A CIB source said that a fingerprint system needs to be implemented across all government agencies to record employees' attendance at their place of work. “The CIB found 150,000 government employees absent without leave last year,” the source added. Implementing a fingerprint system would ensure a high percentage of attendance and official leave requests from employees, the source pointed out. The CIB inspections have shown that the current attendance and leave system has problems, the source said. “Many employees leave work early and sign their leave sheet when they come to work the next day.” The source said that CIB field inspections cannot cover all government agencies because the CIB does not have sufficient branches and staff. “Besides, there are many government agencies in different regions, governorates and villages.” Okaz/Saudi Gazette __
