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Surprise raids to check violations

In a bid to tighten the noose against corporate involved in labour violations, the ministry has come up with a dynamic idea setting aside old practice under which the ministry was supposed to inform companies about inspection dates.

Elaborating on the efficacy of the new system, Hatem Jumma Al Junaibi, Director of the Inspection Department at the ministry yesterday told Khaleej Times that the new strategy has left companies unable to rearrange their files and take measures to dodge inspection officials as used to happen before.

"With the new policy now a corporate can expect raid at any time and can not skip any legal actions. Companies should therefore keep their records clean and updated, and strictly abide by rules and regulations introduced by the ministry otherwise they should be prepared to face the consequences," said Mr Junaibi.

This policy would greatly help in reflecting the true image about labour violations and help guage the ground situation concerning business volume, he said.

Under the new system, inspectors are equipped with judicial powers to inspect any firm at any time without earlier notice or warrant, he added.

He said the move came as part of the ministry efforts to overhaul its inspection mechanism to make it target oriented qualitatively and quantitatively.

He said the focus of the department would mainly be on companies, which had been reported as adopting illegal practices and had many labour disputes, as one of the major objectives of inspection operations, is to safeguard the rights of labourers and guarantee their safety.

Mr Junaibi disclosed that the ministry is embarking on developing more inspection systems, in accordance with international standards.

"We are aspiring to modernise and upgrade the level of inspection in line with the rapid global changes, and train the working national cadres on recent polices adopted internationally on inspection," said Mr Junaibi.

He said that the ministry is conducting a comprehensive training programme for university graduates, diploma and high school certificate holders on the basic principles and measures required to carry out effective inspection operations.

"About 100 inspectors have been recruited lately at the ministry premises throughout the country, to enhance surprise raids carried out by the department against firms, which do not comply with labour laws," said Mr Junaibi.

Answering a question on whether labour violation has shrunk, Mr Junaibi said recent decisions issued by the cabinet, including the ministerial order No 30 of 2001 on sponsorship transfer and the ministerial decision which has made it mandatory that private facilities functioning within the country should not recruit workers, who do not obtain secondary school certificate or its equivalent, have significantly contributed in reducing labour violations and streamlining labour market.

He mentioned that the department last month carried out 1582 inspection raids in Abu Dhabi.

About 90 companies were stripped off their licences during the same period while 95 labourers were deported for violating labour laws, he said.

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