Thursday 5 March 2015

Dubai Visa Rules: UAE Ministry of Labour begin issuing fines for labour-related offences

Dubai Visa Rules: UAE Ministry of Labour begin issuing fines for l...: The Ministry of Labour will begin issuing fines for three types of labour-related offences, notably not issuing labour contracts, non-renewal of work permits during the grace period and a fine against non-renewal of the trade licence of private recruitment agencies.

The ministry will start issuing fines with effect from March 5 in accordance with the Cabinet’s decision which was issued recently.

Humaid Bin Deemas Al Suwaidi, Assistant Undersecretary of Labour Affairs at the ministry, said that under the Cabinet’s decision, employers will have a grace period of 60 days to renew work permits or get new work permits for their employees from the date of entry into the UAE or the adjustment of the employee’s status to avoid a Dh500 fine per month.

Bin Deemas stressed the importance of documenting labour contracts through the ministry, as well as the employer’s commitment to renew work permits in a timely manner. This helps the minsitry regulate relations between both parties and stabilises the labour market and thus protects the rights of both the employers and the employees.

“Starting March 5, the ministry will issue fines against private recruitment agencies that operate with expired licences. The decision includes both Temporary Employment offices and Mediate Offices,” he explained.

In implementation of the Cabinet’s decision, which took effect on January 5, the ministry provides temporary employment agency business owners with a 60-day grace period to renew their licences and avoid the fine. The fine used to be issued against those agencies on the day following the expiry date.

The Assistant Undersecretary for Labour Affairs called upon private recruitment agencies to speed up renewals according to the procedures followed before March 5 in order to avoid fines, which increase by Dh1,000 for mediating agencies, and Dh2,000 for temporary employment agencies per month of delay. “The previous amount was Dh10,000 for both,” he said.

Temporary Employment offices use an employee’s services by hiring him out to work for a third party, where they carry out the work or service under the supervision of the third party. Mediate Offices act as a third party between both the employee and the employer to help in the negotiation process in terms of the contract to form a business relation between them.