Government set to shake up labour laws :: 7Days

A clear account of the government's plan. I cannot resist quoting in full:

The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has unveiled new plans to reward companies who stick to the labour laws. Those that follow the law to the letter will no longer be required to pay a bank guarantee for each worker, while those that break it will ultimately be blacklisted.

Ahmad Kajoor, Assistant Under Secretary for Planning and Work Force Affairs, said companies will be divided into four categories. Category A will be made up of companies that are committed to Emiratisation and have a workforce made up of no more than 70 per cent of the same nationality. These companies will not have to pay a bank guarantee for workers.

Companies in category B will meet rules on a multi-national workforce, but will fall short of Emiratisation targets. They will pay dhs3,000 per worker for the first 500, and dhs1,000 for each worker after that, up to a maximum of dhs3million.

If these companies meet the Emiratisation target of two per cent they will be promoted to category A. Category C companies will flout both the multinational law and Emiratisation rules.

They will pay dhs3,000 per worker, up to a maximum of dhs3million. Companies in category B and C will be given three years to meet the labour laws or face closure.

Companies in category D will be those that repeatedly flout laws, and will be dropped from the ministry’s registration list, meaning they can’t process things like visas. The ministry has also given companies until August 23 to renew their registration with the ministry or face fines of dhs5,000.

Those found to be employing workers sponsored by a different company will be fined dhs10,000. Though laws on the makeup of the workforce have existed for some time, the government’s attempts to enforce them have been limited.