Dubai: The Taqdeer Award has formed a technical committee to find ways to reach out to more companies and labourers.

The committee includes the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, Dubai Free Zone Council and Dubai Municipality.

The Taqdeer Award aims to encourage companies across Dubai to set international benchmarks in labour practices.

Making the announcement during an awareness workshop for companies, Major General Obaid Muhair Bin Surour, deputy director-general of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) in Dubai and chairman of the Taqdeer Award, said: “I would like to thank the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, Dubai Free Zone Council and Dubai Municipality, for their strong support. I am confident that their cooperation will help us exceed our targets in terms of reaching out to companies. This year, as we have extended the award to include factories and free zones, in addition to construction companies, we are expecting more than 200 participants.”

More than 150 company representatives attended two workshops conducted to create awareness about the award.

Taqdeer Award, launched under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, is the world’s first-of-its kind points based reward system for recognising excellence in labour welfare practices and promoting international best practices in labour welfare.

In its second edition, the award includes companies in construction sector, factories and free zones in Dubai, raising the number of workers targeted by the award to one million.

In its first cycle, the award focussed on construction companies and included over 280 companies employing more than half a million workers.

The points-based reward system will evaluate companies on the basis of essential fundamentals such as labour policies, occupational health; cultural and work environment factors such as communication, creativity and innovation, rules and regulations; as well as results based on labour perceptions and performance indicators.

Companies that get four and five-star rating will be given priority in awarding government projects.