Report salary delay sooner, Indians in UAE told

Abu Dhabi: Indian Embassy has asked expatriates to report incidents of non-payment of salaries without delay. The more the delay in reporting non-payment of wages, the more the complications in solving them, the embassy in Abu Dhabi said.

On Wednesday, the Indian mission sent out an advisory calling it an “important alert for Indian nationals” on social media in which it said any delay in salary payment should be immediately reported.

“All Indian nationals are hereby informed to report to the Embassy of India, Abu Dhabi/Consulate General of India, Dubai of any instance of delay in payment of salary by the employer in [the] UAE,” the embassy tweeted.

The Indian missions have been raising awareness about the need for early reporting of non-payment of wages through various community groups and associations and the Pravasi Bharatiya Seva Kendra (NRI Help Centre).

However, the need for intensifying the drive arose during the recent discussions with the UAE authorities.

Indian Ambassador to the UAE Navdeep Singh Suri told Gulf News on Thursday: “We are committed to resolving labour issues in an expeditious manner. But we must get to know that they are facing issues relating to non-payment of dues.”

He said this is a point that gets discussed in his meetings with the UAE officials.

“The UAE side has also emphasised that such matters be brought to their attention at the earliest. When the cases are reported very late, say eight months like in a recent case, both Indian and the UAE authorities find it challenging to resolve them swiftly,” he said.

Suri said the Indian mission in the UAE had been working closely with the UAE authorities to address non-payment of wages of workers of some companies.

Good cooperation

“We have been receiving good cooperation from the UAE side. In one case, they had even sent a mobile court to expedite the resolution of a dispute as there were many workers who stood affected.”

If such payment delays are reported on time, authorities will be in a better position to take up the issue with the company, arrange supply of provisions to the unpaid workers and even help with reconnection of power and water supplies, Suri explained.

Even as the embassy is in discussion with the UAE authorities, he said, in the interim, it continues to ensure the welfare of the Indian workers by making all the provisions for their safe stay in the UAE.

Smita Pant, deputy chief of mission said the advisory was issued in five Indian languages apart from English to highlight the importance of the matter to workers hailing from various Indian states.

“Non-payment of salary is an important issue. If they are not approaching the embassy or the UAE authorities on time, the situation may get more complicated.”

She pointed out that the mission had come across a few cases in which unpaid workers waited for their employers to make payments for months and approached the authorities rather late.

“If a company is not paying the employees for one or two months, their liability is going higher and you cannot always expect them to make payments in the coming months,” Pant said.

How to report

For cases in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, email at ca.abudhabi@mea.gov.in

For cases in Dubai and other emirates, email at labour.dubai@mea.gov.in