Coronavirus: UAE ministry keen to resolve labour disputes
Legal departments try and redress complaints within a maximum of three days
ABU DHABI: The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) has developed a concerted plan to reorganise the labour market in line with the economic impact of coronavirus since the first day of its outbreak, a ministry official told Gulf News on Tuesday.
The plan includes temporarily amending job contracts and granting several options to parties, the worker and the employer, including reduction of salary at a specific rate determined by the ministry or granting leave without pay during the period of government implementation of the precautionary measures, or granting leave at a specific rate of salary agreed upon by the parties and by mutual consent between the two parties, with the guarantee of the ministry.
“But nevertheless, some problems and disputes arise that require the intervention of the legal departments in the ministry to solve or transfer them to the Labour Court,” he added.
“We are dealing with a huge sector where the number of workers and clients is about eight million. The ministry has set up a toll free number to receive complaints (80060) where the worker records his/her complaint in Arabic, English and Urdu .. The ministry responds to it and attempts to resolve the problem within a maximum of three days.”
Common complaints
The official said the most common complaints received by the ministry after the ouitbreak of coronavirus have been related to leave allowances and the disbursement of travel tickets to employees.
He said although the employees’ contracts stipulate conditions, some sponsors refuse to provide tickets or the allowance on the pretext that flights are suspended, he said.
Delay in the payment of end-of-service benefits and a desire to terminate job contracts are also among the complaints that the ministry has been receiving.
The official said the ministry is keen to resolve such problems through legal departments and persuade the two sides, especially business owners, to resolve the problem in the ministry and not drag the matter to the Labour Court, where the judge takes great consideration of the conditions of the worker. Often, the employer does not benefit from transferring the case to the Labour Court as much as the worker does, he added.