First Worker Welfare Report published in the UAE
Government report notes that ‘many non-national workers have faced in the past many malpractices by recruitment agents’
A government report on worker welfare in the UAE has noted that “many non-national workers have faced in the past many malpractices by recruitment agents”, according to the state news agency WAM.
The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) this week published its first annual ‘Workers Welfare Report 2015’, intended to highlight labour rights in the UAE.
The 2015 report focuses on measures to ensure that all workers that come to the UAE “are recruited and employed equitably, safe in their place of work, and free to advance professionally and personally,” WAM reported.
The report aims to increase transparency about labour issues, improve data reporting and ensure that discussion about the transnational labour mobility and economic development is frank and fair, WAM said.
In the forward to the report, Saqr Ghobash, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation, remarked that the “UAE’s workforce is our greatest asset: the driver for growth that enables economic diversification and secures the future for tomorrow’s generation.”
“The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation is committed to ensuring our workforce is protected and its dynamism is harnessed for the good of all. Therefore the ministry has launched a series of initiatives and resolutions to promote workers’ welfare in the country, most notably, standardising labour contracts in order to promote clarity and transparency for workers and employers,” he added.
He said the ministry launched new laws that “enable workers to move freely between employers, as well as evaluating and reviewing every aspect of working in the Emirates from recruitment to housing and making significant reforms designed to ensure all workers are treated respectfully at all times, and able to report instances of maltreatment easily.”
The minister said that the MOHRE has appointed 63 legal professionals to help resolve labour disputes, and trained 100 members of staff to facilitate the process of dispute resolution. The ministry has also implemented a new, dynamic smart inspection system to enable the inspectors to focus their efforts on higher risk business establishments.
The report noted that over the course of 2015, the Ministry “undertook significant steps to ensure worker protection, including reviewing legislation and regulatory oversight, improving dispute resolution systems and increasing transparency,” WAM noted.
“We can’t deny that many non-national workers have faced in the past many malpractices by recruitment agents. Consequently, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation has been cooperating with countries of origin to improve practices within the recruitment industry as a priority issue,” the report said.
In 2015 the ministry suspended the licences of recruitment agencies that violated recruitment practices, WAM reported.
The report goes on to assert that the UAE has struck partnerships with international organisations, and works closely with foreign governments to ensure that their citizens are protected while in the UAE.
