Dubai: The Ministry of Labour is "studying carefully" all applications for labour cards to women who are sponsored by relatives, a senior official said.
Saif Al Suwaidi, Director of Service Centre Department at the Ministry, yesterday said all applications by companies that seek to hire women who are on the sponsorship of their husbands or other family members "will be checked thoroughly".
Al Suwaidi was interviewed by reporters during the ministry's open day yesterday.
Al Suwaidi said not all companies will be allowed to hire women who are not on the company's sponsorship but on their family sponsorship.
The move comes in line with ministry rules which restrict employing women in certain jobs, such as those which require night shifts.
"The applications will be checked carefully. We will look into the activities of the company, working hours and the kind of job the women will do," said Al Suwaidi.
Requests rejected
"We just rejected an application from a company who wanted to employ a woman as Public Relation Office in a brick company," he said. He said the company doesn't need a woman for such job.
The ministry also rejected several requests from companies that were fined for failing to renew the labour cards of their employees. Most of those companies cited the economic crisis as a reason for not renewing the labour cards.
