UAE Cabinet decided to limit entry of unskilled expat workers





The cabinet deicded to limit the employment of limited-skill expatriate workers and to encourage the employment of skilled workers from within the UAE based on their vocational and accredited education degrees

  



The UAE cabinet decided to limit the employment of limited-skill expatriate workers and to encourage the employment of skilled workers from within the UAE

Abu Dhabi: A set of policies and resolutions to deal with demographic structure in the UAE has been approved by the Cabinet's session Sunday.

The cabinet decided to limit the employment of limited-skill expatriate workers and to encourage the employment of skilled workers from within the UAE based on their vocational and accredited education degrees.

The meeting was chaired by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Shaikh Mohammad said that demographic structure challenge is given a top priority on the government's agenda.

The cabinet resolution exempts domestic workers or any other categories specified by the Chairman of the Federal Demographics Council (FDC) from qalification condition.

Several other resolutions to deal with demographic structure were issued and approved strategies for dealing with the issue.

Population balance

The resolutions and strategies aim to achieve a population balance in a parallel with comprehensive development of benefit to all Emirati citizens.

Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, and Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior and Chairman of the Federal Demographic Council, were present.

The Cabinet session approved passing a number of sovereign resolutions and tasking all relevant bodies with their implementation according to a strategy presented by Shaikh Saif.

The cabinet approved a set of clear objectives on the percentage of Emiratis compared to total population within the next 20 years using a number of policies, coordinated economic and social initiatives according to expected economic and demographic growth scenarios during the next 20 years. All demographic policies taken within that timeframe will aim to achieve these objectives.

The Cabinet instructed all relevant bodies to draw up economic plans and following up on the UAE's workforce by approving a balanced growth pattern that is characterised by economic diversity, relying on a skilled workforce and modern technology during its productive period to attain a national knowledge based economy that provides opportunities and meets the development needs of Emiratis in accordance with the leadership's directives which place citizens as the core for national development.

Productivity

In this regard, the Cabinet approved setting up the Productivity Improvement Fund to stimulate the private sector into improving productivity by relying on technical and technological advancements, and providing a skilled and trained workforce for the private sector. The fund will be an affiliate of the Federal Demographic Council, and its jurisdictions will be approved by the council's chairman.

The Cabinet also instructed relevant bodies to work towards finding suitable alternatives in providing skilled workers for the UAE labour market by setting up labour training centres abroad in the exporting countries to evaluate and train workers before recruiting them. The employer will not handle any additional costs. This system will be adopted to replace the previously unregulated employment system.

Unskilled workers

As for decreasing the number of unskilled workers in the construction sector, which is considered the sector that utilises the highest number of unskilled workers, the Cabinet instructed relevant bodies to lay down a general construction index containing a number of technical criteria that ensure developing productivity in this sector, as well as decreasing the number of unskilled workers in accordance with laws that assist contracting companies in using advanced technology means in this sector.

The Cabinet also instructed relevant labour market bodies to set a minimum limit for qualifications required for some jobs, starting with the construction sector. These qualifications will be approved by the Chairman of the Federal Demographic Council (FDC) in a move that aims to allow the labour market to rely on a skilled workforce and modern technology.

The Cabinet also tasked the FDC to place a limit on the number of employees in some professions that can be compensated for by modern and advanced technologies. The limit will be set on an annual basis, and will be altered when needed.

The Cabinet instructed all bodies concerned to abide by these resolutions, and mandated the FDC to implement the resolutions in coordination with all bodies concerned.

Banned workers must leave UAE:Ministry of Labour

Pvt sector staff must exit even if they hold valid residence visa; Dh50,000 fine for firms hiring banned workers.Private sector workers who get a one-year ban by their employers must leave the country even if their residence visa has not expired, according to the Ministry of Labour.

Clarifying rules governing expatriate workers who are not exempted from the job ban, the ministry said those who stay in the UAE after they get the ban are considered violators of the immigration law.

“Those workers who get a ban and stay in the UAE are violating immigration laws as this means they are staying without a job,” said Humaid bin Dimas Al Suwaidi, Assistant Undersecretary.

“Expatriate workers who come to the UAE enter on a work visa, which allows them to get residence…any violation by the worker of the job contract means he will be banned from work and this will deprive him from residence even if it still valid.”

Quoted by the semi-official daily 'Al Ittihad', Suwaidi said companies which employ a banned worker would be fined Dh50,000.

During the ministry’s weekly “open-day” on Thursday, Suwaidi said he had rejected a request by a company to hire a banned expatriate labourer, adding that worker is now offending immigration laws and must leave the UAE.

UAE Central Bank issued regulations to streamline High service fees charged by banks

High service fees charged by banks and excessive lending practices are affected as part of a host of retail banking rules issued yesterday by the Central Bank.

The new rules cover personal and car loans, with limits capping the amount banks can lend to customers at 20 times their salary. They also set the period of loan repayment at 48 months.In addition, the rules restrict service fees lenders can impose for personal accounts, cheques and debit cards.

Some of the new fees for bank transactions are as follows:

For opening new account – none

If balance is less than the minimum “monthly” - Dh25

Non-arrival of salary - none

Closure of account (if closed within one year of opening) - Dh100

Lack of sufficient credit in the account - Dh25

Issuing certificate of account balance - Dh50

Issuing clearance certificate - Dh50

Non-moving accounts - no charges

Teller transactions at branch (6 transactions monthly free) - Dh10 for each additional transactions

For cash withdrawal or deposit - none

Postpone the payment of the loan – Dh100 for each time

Loan restructuring - Dh250

Bounced cheques - Dh100

Periodic statement of account - Dh25 outside period agreed on

Previously there was a Dh250,000 (US$68,066) ceiling on personal loans but few other limits on service fees. As a result, banks were able to extend huge loans to consumers.

"We have compared fees in the region and put them slightly above regional fees, but not as high as banks wanted," said Suwaidi.

Under the rules, banks will be limited to charging a maximum of Dh25 for replacing lost or stolen ATM cards.

Closing an account within a year of opening will cost customers no more than Dh100. The cost of issuing a chequebook will be capped at Dh30.

Fees for loans will also be regulated. Processing fees for personal loans will be capped at 1 per cent of the loan amount.

Penalties for early payment of a loan will also be curbed. Banks will not be allowed to charge more than 1 per cent of the remaining loan balance if a customer settles a loan early.Those not complying with the rules will face fines

UAE Central Bank has issued regulations to streamline personal loan -will be applied on the current loans

UAE Central Bank has issued regulations to streamline personal loan services of banks in the Emirates.

According to the Central Bank, the new regulations, effective May 1, 2011, will be applied on the current loans in terms of fees only. They will not be applied on current loans in terms of term and payment and the size of clients' salaries. Therefore, there is no need to modify the terms of current loans, reported 'Al Khaleej' newspaper.

The apex bank will review points proposed by a group of Islamic banks. For instance, their suggestion to replace the word 'interest' with 'profit' would be studied. The bank will then work on preparing appropriate terminology to be used in Islamic banks.

Regarding credit card fees the Central Bank confirmed that it is not included in these instructions and banks can follow their own policies.

The Central Bank emphasised that the fees specified in the instructions should be applied as is. They can be modified only after the banking association takes up the matter with the Central Bank.Similarly, pension loans must be equivalent to 30 per cent of client's salary at the time of retirement.

Service fees and commissions charged by banks should not exceed the figures specified by the Central Bank in its regulations. Any revision will be possible only after the Banking Association takes up the matter with the Central Bank.

Personal loan regulations enforced from May 1

Central Bank says new regulations are published in the official Gazette.A new retail loan system announced by the Central Bank early this year to regulate personal lending will be enforced on May 1 after it was published in the official 'Gazette', a newspaper reported on Saturday. The central bank has notified the country’s 23 national banks and 28 foreign units that the new system had been published in the official Gazette on March 31, which means they must adhere to the new rules on May 1.

“When it announced the new loan regulations, the central bank gave the country’s banks one month to enforce them after they are published in the official Gazette,” 'Emarat Al Youm' Arabic language daily reported. “The new rules were published on March 31 and this means banks must enforce them on May 1.”

The new lending regulations capped personal loans at 20 times a borrower’s monthly salary and stipulated the loan must be repaid within 48 months.

The regulations cover all retail loans including personal, car, housing loans and credit credits. They are intended to control lending activity and excessive charges by banks following public complaints about a surge in bank fees.

Personal loans in the UAE, which has the largest Arab banking sector, had surged by at least 35 per cent during 2006-2008 before they sharply slowed down over the past two years following the 2008 global fiscal crisis and regional debt default problems, according to the Central Bank.

From around Dh109 billion at the end of 2006, personal loans jumped by nearly 39 per cent to Dh148bn at the end of 2007 and by about 54 per cent to Dh228bn at the end of 2008. Growth plunged to only around 3.9 per cent through 2009, when personal loans ended the year at 237bn.In 2010, personal loan growth slowed down further to nearly 3.7 per cent as they stood at around Dh246bn at the end of the year.

Total credit also slackened to just around one-three per cent through 2009-2010 compared with more than 30 per cent during 2007-2008 because of those crises and poor borrowing appetite by the private sector.

The figures showed credit to the private sector in the first 10 months of 2010 dipped by four per cent to extend a downward trend since the onset of the crisis.

While loans to the government and other public sector establishments continued to grow slightly, those to he private sector remained dormant as both sides appeared less enthusiastic to engage in lending activity.

the private business and industrial sector was hit hardest by the credit slowdown, plunging by nearly 8.1 per cent in the first 10 months of last year.

From around Dh607bn at the end of 2009, total bank credit to the private sector receded to nearly Dh582.9bn at the end of October