Abu Dhabi allows government employees to work from home

Abu Dhabi: Government employees in Abu Dhabi will now have access to the ‘remote work’ system, according to a decision issued by the Abu Dhabi Government on Thursday.

The Abu Dhabi Government Media Office tweeted: "Abu Dhabi government activates the "remote work" system for some of its employees, thanks to its advanced technical system and technological readiness, to ensure the smoothness and efficiency of all procedures, in order to accelerate the digital transformation."

The World Health Organization labeled the outbreak as a pandemic on Wednesday.

"Enhancing the series of preventative and precautionary measures taken by the government to ensure the safety and health of its human resources, "remote work" is focused on senior citizens, working mothers and employees who suffer from chronic diseases and respiratory symptoms," it added.

The announcement was made in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Earlier this week, the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) had announced 15 new cases of coronavirus, in addition to five new COVID-19 recoveries. The new cases bring the total number of infections in the country to 74, including three Italians, two Emiratis, two Sri Lankan, two Brits, two Indians, and one from Germany, one from South Africa, one from Tanzania, and one from Iran.

Authorities in Dubai had previously said that as of March 11, 50 per cent of the workforce of select federal departments in Dubai will be working remotely. The pilot remote work system will cover 100 per cent of the workforce of these departments from March 17.

The pilot system will be applied gradually to other emirates across the country.

The system is based on the division of labour on the employees in each department so that a group of them will perform their duties from home or remotely. Each department will start dividing the work among its employees so that at least 25 per cent of the workforce, but not more than 50 per cent, will work remotely.