UAE businessman to pay salary to employees' wives

In a first-of-its-kind initiative, philanthropic Sharjah-based Indian businessman Dr Sohan Roy will provide a regular salary to housewives of employees at his Aries Group of Companies.

Roy was so impressed by the commitment of his staff and their families during the Covid-19 pandemic that he decided to reward them in a novel way.

Currently, the company management is collecting the database of wives of its employees. The amount to be paid as salary to a housewife will be determined by the number of years the employee has put in in the firm. The initiative will be rolled out officially soon.

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Roy, who hails from Kerala and is the founder chairman and CEO of Aries Group of Companies, said that it is payback time for the hard work of the employees and the support provided by their families, which has seen the company weather the challenging and uncertain times of 2020.

During the pandemic, the company didn't sack any of its employees or slash their salaries.

How did the idea to pay housewives strike Roy? In 2012, the then Indian Minister of Child and Women Development Krishna Tirath mooted the proposal, wanting to give a “more socially empowered identity to housewives”.

Last month, the Indian Supreme Court, while declaring a compensation for an accident case, noted that the value of housewives’ work was no less than that of her employed husband.

Taking a leaf out of the court’s statement, Roy decided to implement it in reality. And there couldn't have been a better way to recognise the contribution of the employees and their wives in surmounting the pandemic.

Currently, Aries Group is also giving pensions to the parents of its employees who have completed three years of service. Also, students of the employees are provided annual scholarships to study.

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