Ministry confirms ban on sacking of Emirati workers
Salam Hafez
- Last Updated: February 17. 2009 9:30AM UAE / February 17. 2009 5:30AM GMT
DUBAI // The Ministry of Labour has confirmed that a law banning companies from sacking Emiratis arbitrarily is imminent, after it agreed to hold talks with Tanmia, the training arm of the National Human Resource Development and Employment Authority.
Feddah Lootah, the acting director general at Tanmia, said that the meeting would be held today.
The National reported yesterday that Tanmia had submitted a proposal to the ministry outlining legislation that would stipulate that no Emirati could be sacked by a private company except in extreme circumstances in which they had violated UAE labour laws.
At the same time, Saqr Ghobash Saeed Ghobash, the Minister of Labour, told the Arabic daily newspaper Emarat al Youm: "The ministry plans to issue an imminent decision that stops the dismissal of Emirati staff working in the private sector as the Government's first reaction in light of recent complaints made to the ministry from the public." Humaid bin Dimas, the acting director of the Ministry of Labour, confirmed Mr. Ghobash's remarks in a telephone interview yesterday.
"There will be an announcement but the date is not set,'' he said. "The issue of Emiratisation is sensitive, and final decisions will have to be carefuly planned and announced in due time via government channels.
"We will use the media to raise awareness so that employees can report companies to the ministry."
Mrs Lootah hailed the ministry's decision as a "great move" in reducing the UAE's reliance on foreign workers and encouraging more Emiratis to join the private sector.
"I am more than happy at the decision of the MoL to look into our proposal and pass a law that stops companies from firing Emiratis in the private sector,'' she said. "The announcement by the MoL shows that there will be no delays in them passing a policy that safeguards Emirati jobs.
Other policies on how to create more jobs will also be discussed in the meetings.
"There are a lot of initiatives between us and government bodies and especially the Ministry of Labour,'' Mrs Lootah said. "We need to create more jobs and offer benefits for Emiratis who are actively looking for work or recently made redundant.''
Mr Ghobash said the MoL "strongly rejects" the use of the global financial crisis as an excuse by private companies to sack Emiratis and not meet their Emiratisation quotas. He was quoted by Emarat al Youm as saying: "I have no objection to the termination of the services of a citizen if the performance is weak and companies follow guidelines and rules. However, it is totally unacceptable to use the financial crisis for the indiscriminate dispensing of citizens without compelling justification."
He added: "The number of complaints received by the ministry in this regard is very small, but worrying at the same time.
"The Ministry of Labour is currently working on following up such complaints with the companies concerned on a case-by-case basis to determine the reasons for laying off Emiratis and working to find a solution to their problems amicably."
There are 13,000 UAE nationals among the three million employees in the private sector, according to Government figures. According to Mrs Lootah, there are more than 12,000 job-seeking Emiratis on Tanmia's books, the majority of which are male.
According to sources inside the MoL, however, a policy aimed at securing Emirati jobs could take some time to materialise. "We have Tanmia's proposal and we are holding meetings,'' one of them said.
"But there isn't an actual text by the Ministry of Labour on this issue as of yet.
"We are looking at it, but it could take some time."
shafez@thenational.ae