UAE Labour Ministry revised fees and fines from January 4

His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has issued a resolution revising the Ministry of Labour’s fees and fines.

The Cabinet Resolution No. 40 for the year 2014, amending some of the fines and fees in the Cabinet Resolution No. 10 for the year 2012 will be effective from January 4, according to the latest issue of the official gazette.

• Delay in renewing a job contract for 60 days from the date of the worker’s entry into the country or the date of adjusting the worker’s legal status will invite a fine of Dh500 per month even if the delay is only for less than a month, according to the new resolution. At present the fine is Dh1,000.
• The fine for failure to get a mission contract issued within 30 days from the date of the worker’s entry and the failure to renew it for seven days after its expiry is Dh100 per day.
• Companies that falsify Emiratisation records will invite a fine of Dh20,000 per worker and Dh5,000 will be levied from the companies for providing incorrect information in the Wage Protection System (WPS) to evade or manipulate the regulations per case. The maximum fine in the last case will be Dh50,000.
• Non-settlement of employee’s wage for 60 days will attract a fine of Dh5,000 per worker with the maximum of Dh50,000 if the case includes more than one worker. Companies forcing employees to sign forged documents showing that the payment of their dues was made will have to pay Dh5,000 as fine per worker. Dh20,000 is the fine per case for non-compliance with the workers’ accommodation regulations and for not employing the worker for a period exceeding two months
• Charging the worker for the visa and employment fees or deducting such fees from his wage without any legal reason will attract a fine of Dh5,000. This fine is Dh20,000 at present.
• The fine will be Dh20,000 if the company fails to comply with the Emirati employment policies or doesn’t respond to the Ministry of Labour’s summons within the time frame specified by the ministry.
• Failure to report absconding workers in compliance with the relevant rules and filing a malicious absconding report will also attract a Dh20,000 fine per worker.
• The company will be fined Dh5,000 if it flouts the midday break rule per worker. The maximum fine will be Dh50,000 if the case includes more than one worker.
• Submitting forged documents or incorrect information to the ministry will attract a Dh20,000 fine per case.
• The failure to subscribe to the wage protection system, adhere to the professional health and safety standards, report work injuries, occupational diseases or a worker’s death to the ministry, and/or failure to follow medical hazards and emergency procedures will attract a fine of Dh10,000 per case.
• Failure to remove accommodation violation on time will attract Dh10,000 per case.
• Failure to renew licence of a brokerage agency within 60 days from the date of expiry will attract Dh1,000 per month, while the fine for failing to renew a recruitment agency within 60 days from the date of expiry will be Dh2,000 per month.
• The fee for work permit card for a period of two years will be Dh300 for the first category. The fee for second category employees, which include three levels, will be Dh600, Dh1,500 and Dh2,000 respectively.
• The fee for the third category will be Dh5,000 for renewing their work permits.
• A fee of Dh5,000 will be applicable for issuance of work permits for those more than 65 years with a validity of two years.
• Fines accumulated for failure to obtain or renew labour cards on time, before this resolution takes effect on January 4, will be a maximum of Dh1,000 per worker, provided that payment is made within six months from January 4.
• A Dh500 fine will be collected for delay of payment per month

UAE labour card fines cut to Dh1,000 for 6 months,starting January 4 till June 30 2015.

The UAE’s Ministry of Labour has announced granting all employers a reduction to all issued fines, regardless of their amounts per employee, to Dh1,000 for a grace period of six months starting January 4 till June 30 2015.

“Electronic labour card offences have all been dropped to a Dh1,000 per employee,” said Humaid bin Deemas Al Suwaidi, Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry’s Labour Affairs, said during the press conference which was held at the ministry’s headquarters on Sunday.

"The deadline include electronic labour cards that have not been issued or renewed until the end of this current month which mount to 100,000 electronic cards from 40,000 facilities, marking 13 per cent of the total registered facilities in the ministry," he said.

He pointed out that about 95,000 fines were issued for not renewing workers cards and 5,000 have been fined for entering the country without applying for new labour cards or for not cancelling their work permits, or reported missing from duty.

He revealed that fines have reached a total amount of Dh2.85 billion which will settle to around Dh100 million after the application of the decision. “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," Bin Deemas added.

He explained that there are thousands of cards, of which some have fines reaching up to Dh53,000. “Now that big fine has been settled and reduced to only a thousand dirhams, this is an opportunity for all employers and business owners to settle those fines imposed on them and remove any restriction in their records at the ministry," Humaid said.

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 reduced amount of Dh1,000 fine per card in addition to another Dh500 for each month of delay,” Bin Deemas pointed.

Employment contract fines

Meanwhile, Humaid bin Deemas Al Suwaidi said stated that the Ministry of Labour, starting January 4, 2015, a Dh500 per month will be imposed on employers who fail to provide employment contracts to the ministry (signed by the employee) within a 60 day period starting from the entry of the employee to the country."

He said that the period of 60 days is sufficient enough for the employer to sign a contract with his new employee through Tas’heel service centres to properly document it and any excuses for delay will not be accepted.

He announced that there is coordination between the Ministries of Labour and Ministry of Interior to not to issue a visa, unless the employer signs that agreement during the specified period.