Residents unaware of labour website

Dubai: Four days after the draft Labour Law went online in English, many residents say they are not aware that it is on the internet.

They wished that there was a more widespread campaign to tell residents that it has gone online. The Ministry of Labour has posted the draft law on the internet to ask residents for suggestions and comments.

However, not a single comment has been posted on the English website, while the Arabic version saw comments registered on the first day.

Sabaheen Khurana, a recruitment consultant, said she was not aware that the draft law was online.

"Although I am very interested in knowing the details of the labour law I did not know that it was available online. Nobody in my circle is aware of this initiative," she said.

Mirla Al Masari, an advertisement executive, said she was not aware either. "An effective way would have been to send a notification to companies informing them of the initiative as this law affects everybody and it is very important to get to know more about it," she said.

Marco Ehrhardt, a company owner, said a booklet could have been issued to inform businessmen.

Benroy Fernandes, an IT-consultant, said he had heard that a draft labour law is being readied but did not know that the public can have access to it.

"I do not know if it has been advertised in the media but an effective way would have been to arrange for an SMS campaign. Usually they are useful in spreading a message," he said.

Dr Ali Bin Abdullah Al Ka'abi, Minister of Labour, told Gulf News that they were not aware of the problem but he will look into the matter.

"I will discuss the issue of lack of public awareness with the Public Relations and Communication Department, but only after I receive the statistic reports to assess the problem accurately," said Al Ka'abi.

The Ministry of Labour organised a press conference announcing the launch of the Arabic version and officials said the English version was to follow.

The draft labour law is published on a separate website www.uaelabourlaw.net supervised by du and people can post their comments after registering at the site.