UAE | Employment
Firms will think twice before firing Emiratis
The new ministerial decision setting conditions on termination of Emirati workers will make companies think twice before they sack them under the pretext of the global financial crisis, said a Tanmia official.
- By Wafa Issa, Staff Reporter
- Published: 12:13 February 19, 2009
Dubai: The new ministerial decision setting conditions on termination of Emirati workers will make companies think twice before they sack them under the pretext of the global financial crisis, said a Tanmia official.
Private sector companies will face legal action if they sack Emiratis who have not violated the labour law, according to a new decision by the Ministry of Labour.
The decision comes after Al Futtaim Group sacked a number of Emiratis.
Al Futtaim Group said they were terminated because the company was “restructured in light of the current global financial crisis.''
Feddah Lootah, Acting Director-General at the National Human Resource Development and Employment Authority (Tanmia) said this decision will curb the practice of some companies who use the current global financial situation to escape from their Emiratisation responsibility.
“With the implementation of the new decision any company will think twice before terminating an Emirati, especially those who thought that they could escape their responsibilities because of the crisis,'' said Lootah.
Skills development
“Tanmia will provide all the assistance for Emiratis as well as companies in terms of developing skills and it will not tolerate Emiratis who will not develop themselves to be added value for the companies they work for,'' the official said.
Responding to a question if Tanmia was worried if the new rule will make private companies shy away from employing Emiratis, Lootah said that “companies need to remember that there are Cabinet decisions that have enforced Emiratisation quotas and these rules must be respected and followed''.
The new decision stipulates that the sacking of Emiratis working in the private sector and who have not violated the labour law is unlawful and companies not complying with it will face legal action and will not be able to issue work permits if the ministry feels that they did not have valid reasons for the termination.
Some of the clauses that can be brought against erring employees are:
Non-performance of basic duties as set out under the contract and repeated violations despite warnings.
Other clauses include professional mistakes which result in a substantial material loss to the employer, and clear disregard for safety instructions at the workplace.
In any other case companies must go back to the ministry and give 30 days notice if they need to lay off Emiratis.
The new rule
(Source: Ministry of Labour)
The rule will cover 14,861 Emiratis who are currently registered at the ministry of labour. However, the decision does not cover Emiratis working in semi-governmental bodies.
57 Emiratis have filed labour-related complaints at the ministry of labour between January 2008- February 15 2009.
20 out of the 57 Emiratis were from Al Futtaim Group who claimed that they were arbitrarly terminated.
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