Wednesday, January 7, 2015

No increase in security deposit fee for hiring domestic helpers in UAE

Officials with the Ministry of Interior say there has been no increase in the security deposit needed to hire a maid within the UAE.
Contrary to media reports, the security deposit remains at Dh2,000 and is refundable when the maid completes her work contract, the work visa expires and they return to her home country, said a senior official at the Department of Residency and Foreign Affairs at the Ministry of Interior on Tuesday.

The safety deposit will be returned once the visa is cancelled, the official at the Department of Residency and Foreign Affairs in the ministry told .The fees are applicable if a resident has to hire a new driver, housemaid, chef, nanny or any other domestic help, the official said.
In addition, a yearly non-refundable fee of Dh5,000 must be paid to the ministry for hiring the domestic
A copy of this document must be provided to the worker and should include an end-of-service gratuity, in addition to the monthly salary. The workers are entitled to one day off per week.

The contract cannot be valid for more than two years and has to be signed by the employment agency and the employer. It should include the date of employment, the job description and the wages among other details.
Additionally, domestic workers may be subjected to a six-month probation period.
Recently, residents expressed concern over the increasing fees being required by recruitment agencies that offer domestic helpers to the country’s residents. Therefore, a motion was passed at the Federal National Council last year to ensure that this hike be limited, by signing agreements with the countries that export them.
As of 2012, some of the highlights of the new regulations in hiring domestic help included that the weekly day off be fully paid or that a day in lieu be given to workers if they were required to work on that day, or that the day’s payment is received. A typical annual holiday of two weeks which can be carried forward to the following year if an employee failed to make use of them.

Workers have the right to withdraw their contracts if their employers inflict sexual or physical abuse. Employers cannot allow their domestic workers to do paid work with a third party without the ministry’s consent.

Upon the expiration of the contract, employers have to settle their workers’ dues within 10 days. In case of the death of an employee, employers must repatriate the body to the worker’s home country.

Employers need not provide severance pay if the employees are absent from work for more than 30 days.
worker.According to the UAE law, a standard labour contract is binding on the domestic workers and their employers.

Sunday, January 4, 2015

UAE Ministry of Labour begin levying fine of Dh1,000 from companies fail to issue or renew electronic labour cards of employees

 Abu Dhabi: The Ministry of Labour will begin levying a fine of Dh1,000 from companies that fail to issue or renew electronic labour cards of their employees from Sunday.
The move is in line with the Cabinet resolution over violations of labour laws.

However, Humaid bin Dimas Al Suwaidi, assistant under-secretary of the Ministry for Labour Affairs, said employers will be given a grace period — January 4 to June 30, 2015 — to adjust their status.

Employers who failed to issue or renew electronic Labour cards or “Plastic Labour Cards” for their employees will have to pay a maximum of Dh1,000 for each labour card that has not been issued or renewed by December 31, 2014.
He revealed that fines have so far reached a total amount of Dh2.85 billion, which will be reduced to Dh100 million as per the grace period given to employers for settlement.
The period covers the electronic card applications not issued or renewed until the end of this December.He urged employers to benefit from the grace period to settle the status of their workers and apply for the issuance and renewal of their workers’ e-labour cards.
Al Suwaidi said about 100,000 applications were submitted by 40,000 firms, representing 13 per cent of the total firms registered by the ministry.
“This confirms the government’s keenness to support employers and motivate them to settle those fines, which is a tool used by the ministry to control and regulate the labour market and provide protection to the workers,” Al Suwaidi added.
He explained that there are thousands of cards, some of which have fines reaching Dh53,000.
“Now that large fines have been reduced to only a Dh1,000, it is an opportunity for all employers and business owners to settle those fines and remove any sorts of restrictions in their records at the ministry,” Humaid said.
Furthermore, offenders during the grace period, will be stopped from obtaining all kinds of labour permits until they settle all the above mentioned fines. “Starting July 2015, employers will be asked to pay the Dh1,000 fine per card in addition to another Dh500 for each month of delay,” Bin Deemas pointed.

Al Suwaidi stated that the Ministry of Labour, starting from January 4, 2015, will fine employers “Dh500 per month if they fail to provide employment contracts to the ministry within a 60-day period starting from the entry of the employee into the country.”

He explained that this decision represents the keenness of the UAE to protect labourers’ rights and ensure a stable relationship between employer and employee with full transparency.
He said that the period of 60 days is sufficient for the employer to sign a contract with his new employee through Tas’heel service centres to properly document this, and any excuses of delay will not be accepted.