Three UAE labour Decrees to be effective from January 2016

The Ministry of Labour _ Dubai November 19th, 2015 H.E. Saqr Ghobash, Minister of Labour, said “The three new decrees, to start beginning of next year, meet wise leadership guidance are consistent with the Constitution and labour market requirements, they also promote the transition to the knowledge based economy as well as compatibility with international labour standards."

Ghobash confirmed that the stability the “Labour market is a reflection of the stability of the working relationship between both parties, something which is expected to be reinforced by those decisions that would establish a better relationship between the employer and workers due to transparency of the unified contracts. Also enable workers to shift to other firms at any time preserving their rights, all in accordance to regulations set forth, which enhances the UAE labour market mobility and flexibility."

The Minister of Labour put forth his statement while meeting over 300 ministry employees and legal scholars to review and discuss the upcoming decrees, in the presence of Mubarak Saeed Al Dhahiri, MoL Undersecretary and Humaid bin Deemas Al Suwaidi, Assistant Undersecretary for Labour Affairs and Dr. Omar Al-Nuaimi Assistant Undersecretary for Policy and Strategy.

"Files highlighting Labour Rights by the Human Rights watch is one of the most vital issues of concern, urging us to provide them protection and rights preservation, and so following the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai to be the ‘Number One’ Nation globally, maintaining rights is definitely a core value, hence, three new decrees coming up," Ghobash said.

"The three resolutions came after building a strong economy and adds to legislations accomplished by the ministry over the past couple of years to reach a stabile labour market to achieve the UAE 2021 vision of creating a stable labour market and a productive workforce to promote a competitive knowledge-based economy that revolves around UAE citizens, including an emphasis on providing better protection to workers' rights and ensure while insuring employers, whom welcomed the new decrees, interests are being kept and maintained,” he said.

The minister praised govt. employees capabilities and contributions to institutional development and expressed his confidence in their ability to properly implement the new decisions to achieve marked objectives. Similarly, efforts by legal scholars had not gone unnoticed, the ministry stated that they handle labor disputes fairly and work endlessly to find amicable solutions to preserve their rights.

On the sidelines of the meeting, a workshop was held by his excellency Humaid bin Deemas Al Suwaidi, Assistant Undersecretary for Labour Affairs, to explain texts of each of the three new decrees and implementation procedures.

Following on inquiries Legal Counsel Karem Abdul Latif together with Mohammed Mubarak Director of Labour Relations Office in Dubai replied to all concerns questioned.

The first decree requires employee signature preceding a contract renewal to obtain a new work permit, something which will be hereby terminate procedures currently implemented to renew work permits after only receiving a notification through the employer stating that both ends agreed to renew the contract, stating all privileges and requirements enclosed in the contract to be renewed.

Workers, under the new procedures, shall enjoy better options of either accepting to renew the contract according to marked privileges and stipulated requirements in the new contract, or amend these privileges and conditions upon agreement by both parties, which actively contributes to promoting a strong working relationship, or on the other hand enable employees to completely end the relationship search for alternatives or return back home.

The second decree, points six cases of labour contract termination for fixed-term contracts and four cases for non-term contracts.

Additionally, the third decree regards terms and conditions of granting a new work permit to worker who choose to end a working relationship through four cases to issue a permit if the contract between both ends was a fixed-term contract and three cases for non-term ones, something which promotes flexible mobility and maintains labour market competencies and exchange experiences internally.