UAE Nurseries must have licence from Ministry of Social Affairs

A new law regulating nurseries in the UAE that was recently adopted by the Council of Ministers prohibits nurseries from operating without a licence from the Ministry of Social Affairs,  the Arabic newspaper Al Khaleej has reported.

Violators face both fines and imprisonment, the ministry has warned.

Meanwhile, Mouza Al-Shoumi, director of the children’s department at the Ministry of Social Affairs, told ‘Al Khaleej’ that Article II of the law says that nurseries must provide care and education to children in a safe environment.
She added nurseries must help to develop the child's personality, talents, and mental and physical abilities, including communication skills.
She said the new law empowers local authorities in each emirate to lay down conditions for granting licences to nurseries.She said according to the new law, the chairman of the company seeking a nursery school licence should be an Emirati. The ministry will not approve issue of a licence if the chairman is not an Emirati.

She also said the new law contains a commitment to children with special needs. It also mentions qualifications of nursery school staff, their appointment and the building’s specifications.

UAE Ministry of Labour stipulates salary for graduates in private sector not less than Dh12,000

A minimum salary rule will be applied by the Ministry of Labour to three categories of employees, provided they have a secondary school certificate or a higher educational certificate, local Arabic daily Al Khaleej has reported.

Ministry officials said the private sector workers are grouped into five skilled labour categories, adding that employees of the first category should be university graduates and should receive a minimum monthly salary of Dh12,000.

The second category include technicians who should receive not less than Dh7,000, while the third are skillful labourers who must be paid at least Dh5,000, provided they have a secondary school certificate.

According to the report, the latest ministry regulations followed requests by a number of   employees wishing to change their jobs for higher salary and other reasons.

The report states that many of the applications were rejected because they did not meet the necessary conditions. The Ministry has also said it had agreed on bringing labour from outside the UAE as long as all labour conditions are met.

The report quoted the ministry as saying it will not give new labour permits to employees in case the salary they will receive in the new company is less than what the ministry has previously decided.

In such a case, they will have approval six months after the cancellation of the old labour card.

To be given a labour permit, the qualifications of the employees should suit the nature of the job, it said.

India raises concern over Saudi’s new labour policy-Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamad today met Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, vice minister of Foreign Affairs

Dushanbe: India Friday raised its concern with Saudi Arabia over its policy of reserving 10 per cent jobs for locals, a decision which will hit over 3 lakh low- and semi-skilled workers from India with a sizable number coming from Kerala.

Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamad, who is in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, to attend the Asian Development Dialogue, Friday met Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, vice minister of Foreign Affairs, and conveyed the anxiety and concerns of India on the issue.

The Prince assured Ahamad that Saudi will always give the best consideration for Indians working in the Kingdom and values its very cordial relations with India.

The Saudi Minister, who is here to attend the conference, said he will bring the matter to the notice of the Labour Ministry and concerned authorities when he gets back to Riyadh.

On his part, Ahamad told the Prince that India enjoys the best of relations with Saudi and hope that no step will be taken that will adversely affect expatriates in the Kingdom.

The Indian Embassy has also taken up the matter with the Saudi Government, Ahamad told PTI adding, "There is no panic situation as of now. The Indian government will pursue the matter in the best possible way."

Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi yesterday said he had asked the Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia to take up the issue with Riyadh and its Labour Ministry and ensure that there would be no job loss for Indians on a mass scale.

The new labour policy, called Nitaqat, might lead to the denial of job opportunities for large number of expatriates from India, especially from Kerala, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"It has come to my notice that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has initiated strong steps to implement Nitaquat law to expand employment avenues to its nationals which may ultimately lead to the denial of job opportunities for expatriates," he said. In 2011, 2.28 million Keralites were working abroad. Of them, some 570,000 are in Saudi Arabia, a report said

community service’ sentences in UAE by early next year

The UAE will soon adopt the alternative penalties law, said Dr. Jamal Al Sumaiti, Director General of Dubai Judicial Institute as reported Emarat al Youm.

He said that the bill on alternative measures like ‘community service’ in cases of misdemeanors and minor violations instead of imprisonment, is being considered.

He added that a federal committee of advisers, experts and heads of public prosecutions in addition to lawyers, reviewed the draft law and decided that it can be applied by early next year at the most.

However, members of the Federal National Council say it will be more expensive for the government to apply it. Other members said that the imprisonment of short duration is useless and will never be a deterrent.

Dr Al Sumaiti said that the bill will be re-submitted to the Cabinet and then presented to the President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, for approval.

He explained that the alternative Penal Code cannot be applied on all convicts, or drug addicts as they should be placed in the center for rehabilitation.

The committee studying alternative punishments reviewed the experience of other countries to identify the best way of applying what fits the local environment and the values prevailing in society.

Earlier, the Cabinet approved the federal law of alternative punishments which lists  20 offences that call for community service ranging between 20 to  240 hours.

By applying the new code, the UAE will be the first among Arab countries to adopt such type of law.

Additional cost

Chairman of the Interior and Defense Committee at the Federal National Council, Dr. Yaqoub Al Naqbi, said that the application of the new law of alternative punishments will incur the UAE more money than they spend on regular penalties.

He added it would require the presence of security for monitoring and follow-up, as well as increase the possibility of escape by offenders.

He called for internal alternative measures such as establishment of workshops in prisons for such prisoners. He added such workshops such as carpentry for men, and sewing and embroidery for women, will help in rehabilitating the prisoners.

He called on investors to help implementation of such projects in prisons as they will profit from it. This will also reduce the financial burden on the government.

Good for UAE

Ahmed Ali Al Za'abi, head of the legislative committee in the FNC, said that short-term imprisonment is not working and is not a deterrent. On the contrary, it opens the opportunity to learn crime from hardened criminals in prison.

Al Za'abi demanded the abolition of short-term imprisonment entirely and its replacement with financial fines followed by deportation - this will help the punitive and correctional institutions.

Said Al Ghilani, a lawyer, said that the Alternative Penal Code would be more of a deterrent.

He pointed out that it will ease the problem of overcrowding in prisons, which often causes the transmission of diseases among prisoners.

Al Ghilani stressed the importance of alternative penal code which will prevent the mingling of prisoners with each other, which will prevent the development of the criminal inclinations to the offenders who were convicted in simple cases.

He added in simple cases offenders entered prison for the first time on issues such as the abuse of narcotic substances but later became drug dealers, after being educated in prison at the hands of criminals.

Al Ghilani stressed that it is possible for one policeman to control dozens of such offenders doing community service.

Can company enforce 1-year ban in UAE if terminates contract

The UAE Ministry of Labour has moved a case to its Legal Department to rule on a case which has raised the issue of whether a company that has cancelled the contract by issuing a termination letter can enforce a one-year employment ban on that employee.
A report in local Arabic daily Al Khaleej cited the ministry’s clarification made in a case where a female employee had been issued a one-year ban by her company.
The ministry stated that if the employee has violated the contract in any away, then irrespective of resignation or termination, a ban can be enforced.Despite the ministry ruling that in this case the ban was applicable, the details of the case raised many questions that needed clarification.

The ministry first clarified that an investigation into the case revealed that the company had issued her a termination letter, which she was using to get the ban lifted.
The employee claims that the end of her employment was signed off by the employer after only three months of her working there.The company has claimed that she violated the terms of the contract, which the ministry probe held as true and therefore, a ban in this case is fair.The final ruling, however, is now with the Legal Department of the Ministry of Labour.