New rule soon to curb workers' exploitation

DUBAI - Starting in October this year, companies applying for work permits will be required to furnish copies of the job offers they signed with the expatriate employees they want to recruit along with copies of the labour contracts to ensure that the privileges promised to the prospective employees in the job offers are similar to those included in the labour contracts, according to a senior official.

By (By a staff reporter)

Published: Sat 26 Jun 2004, 11:13 AM

Last updated: Thu 2 Apr 2015, 2:05 PM

Ahmed Khajoor, Assistant Under-Secretary for Planning at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, said that the ministry will make it compulsory for all private companies applying for invdividual or group employment visas to furnish the details of the labour contracts of the employees to be recruited in order to curb the practice of cheating and exploiting them, following several cases where companies lure workers into the country by offering them attractive offers, but once here they make them sign contracts depriving them of many of the privileges promised to them in the job offers they signed in their home countries.

"At present the ministry requests companies to provide the job offers and labour contracts, but it is still not obligatory. It is a preliminary step before making it mandatory for all companies to attach the job offers to the work permit applications as a prerequisite for obtaining the visas," he disclosed.

Mr Khajoor was highlighting the advantages of the new e-system for processing applications online which was introduced last month.

He said that the electronic system is designed to reject the transactions which show a minimum of 10 per cent differences between the job offer and the labour contract, in which case those transactions will be referred to the ministry's staff concerned to double check them before attesting the contract.

"The new electronic system helps preserve the workers rights," he observed, stressing that workers receive in their home countries job offers that look attractive, but they get the shock of their lives when they face the reality on arrival to the UAE where they find themselves forced to sign labour contracts with less salaries and dues.

The details of the contract include the salary the company plans to give to the worker in question, the job description, the accommodation, leave and other benefits.

Those details should be identical in both the job offer and the labour contract.

"This will help solve lots of the labour disputes which result from the workers' ignorance with the country's rules and regulations."

"This phenomenon has prompted the ministry to introduce a mechanism for comparing the job offers and labour contracts before issuing the employment visas," said Mr Khajoor.

Another advantage of the system is the possibility of evaluating the jobs available in the market which the UAE national job seekers can take up, as the members of the visa committee will be able to decide by going through the job description, salary and benefits offered in the job letter if they were suitable for the national job seekers registered with Tanmia and accordingly nominate the right candidate if available.