Dubai: The Taqdeer Award was launched in 2016, in partnership with several government authorities and private sector companies. The vision of the Award is to honour companies who have achieved excellence in labour welfare practices and their workers.
Companies who have won four or five star ratings in the past have received the Corporate Gold Card, while its workers are able to receive the Blue Excellence card. To date, over 210,000 workers in the UAE have received this card, which provides them several benefits from government organisations as well as private sector companies.
For example, one of the benefits of the Blue Card is receiving healthcare support through discounts on medical services.
Dr Sherbaz Bichu, Chief Executive Officer of Aster Hospital and clinics, UAE, Bahrain and Oman, spoke about why they had partnered with Taqdeer Award for these special benefits, for blue-collar workers.
From free basic health check-ups every six months, to free optical screening every year and discounts on medical services, the company provides several benefits for Blue Card holders.
“Our mission is accessible and affordable healthcare and we also have Aster Volunteers, which most of our employees are part of and which is also open to people outside the company. So, working for people’s welfare is ingrained in our DNA and Taqdeer’s vision relates with us very closely,” Dr Bichu said.
Blue Card workers not only receive 25 to 50 per cent discount at Aster’s Access clinics, if they require tertiary medical treatments, like a liver or kidney transplant, and plan to get treated in India, the company offers them a 50 per cent discount at its facilities there.
“If the country is doing so much for workers, we should also be contributing,” he added.
If the country is doing so much for workers, we should also be contributing
Making Dubai the best place to live and work
Basma Mansour, who was representing the management of Belhasa Driving Centre at the press conference held yesterday, on September 21, spoke about how the driving centre is one of the strategic partners of the Award, and provides special services and discounts to workers awarded with Blue Excellence cards.
“People who come to the driving centres with these cards receive discounts on driving classes. From our perspective, it helps us contribute to safer drivers on UAE’s roads, which we have been doing for the past 20 years. So we are very proud to be part of this. We are here to support the vision of Taqdeer Award to make Dubai the best place to live and work.”
We are here to support the vision of Taqdeer Award to make Dubai the best place to live and work.
Johan Vercruyssen, the Health and Safety Manager at TenCate Thiolon Middle East LLC, also spoke about how Taqdeer Award helps companies.
The company won a four-star rating in the previous award cycle, and Vercruyssen spoke about how such awards make a difference.
“I think it is a great initiative from the government to organise such an Award. We care very much about our employees and this is a tool for our company and our employees to demonstrate that we care and have systems in place to make sure everybody is well. It is also a factor that attracts workers to come work with us. This helps us strengthen the idea for people across the world that companies in the UAE care about people and the government cares about people. This is the perfect way to demonstrate it,” he said.
