Ministry offers nine choices for third language in labour contracts

Abu Dhabi - Employer to face Dh20,000 fine if it's proven that the worker did not go through the annexes of the contract.

The Ministry of Labour has recently approved 11 languages to be presented to workers for job offers, labour contracts and annexes following the newly launched labour decrees.

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Humaid bin Deemas, Assistant Undersecretary for Labour Affairs, said: "Other than Arabic and English, nine languages have been selected including Bengali, Chinese, Dari, Hindi, Malayalam, Nepalese, Sri Lankan, Tamil and Urdu; those languages have been picked according to statistics highlighting the highest number of workers using it."

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"Arabic and English languages are the main languages in each job offer, labour contract and its annexes presented to the worker. The third language applies to new workers coming from outside and residents who seek a new job or change their jobs."

He explained, "Adding these new languages confirm the ministry's keenness to promote transparency between both parties on terms and conditions of employment and the rights and obligations, before coming to the country to attend to their duties."

"Workers must look into job offers and annexes in their preferred languages before signing the contracts to reach a healthy work relationship. Annexes must be reviewed as they hold a number of labour laws and amendments," he said.

"If proven that workers did not go through the Annexes before signing the labour contract, the ministry will take the measures set forth in the Council of Ministers Decision No. 40 of 2014 against the employer who may face a Dh20,000 fine for submitting incorrect data to the ministry.

"If the worker understands the nature of work as well as the terms and conditions before the official hiring, it will help reducing labour disputes," he added.

Both labour contracts and annexes are available on the ministry's website www.mol.gov.ae, workers can access these documents after filling in nationality, passport number and transaction type fields.

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