United Arab Emirates

This report is based on a one-day consultation with private sector employers held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on 20 November 2017. The consultation was organised by the Federation of UAE Chambers of Commerce and Industry, in partnership with the UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) and the International Organization for Migrations (IOM), and in cooperation with the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) and the Global Forum for Migration and Development – Business Mechanism (GFMD – BM).

This paper, “Research on the Labour Recruitment Industry between United Arab Emirates, Kerala (India) and Nepal,” was commissioned to the International Organization for Migration by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) within the framework of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue. It examines the labour recruitment processes from India and Nepal to the UAE, with a focus on low-skilled and semi-skilled workers.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation has issued a brochure that aims to inform guest workers arriving in the United Arab Emirates. The short (10 page) brochure summarizes 10 important things to know for newly arriving migrants, including information on recruitment costs, personal identification, starting work, contract termination and moving to a new employer.

UAE law includes the prohibition of accepting or demanding payment from workers whether before or after recruitment (Article 18 of UAE Labour Law No. 8, 1980).
The provision stipulates:
"It is not permissible for any licensed labour agent or supplier to demand or accept from any worker whether before or after his recruitment, any commission or material reward in consideration for arranging such recruitment, nor may he obtain from him any expenses except as may be decided or approved by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

Wages Protection System (WPS) is an electronic salary transfer system that allows companies / institutions to pa y workers wages via banks, bur eaux de change, and financial institutions approved and authorized to provide the service.

The system, developed by the Central Bank of the UAE, allows the Ministry of Labour to create a database that records wage payments in the private sector to guarantee the timely and full payment of agreed-upon wages.

The UAE’s National Qualifications Authority, still faces the challenge of appropriate assessment tools to verify migrants’ qualifications, because of the proliferation of individual certification systems in the many countries of origin of its foreign contract workers.

The Emirate of Abu Dhabi mandates employers to offer work-based health insurance to all workers residing in the Emirate. The target is to replicate Abu Dhabi's program (or something similar) across the UAE.

Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Syria, Tunisia, UAE and Yemen signed an agreement to start electronic money transfers using technology that has been developed by the Universal Postal Union (UPU).

According to the Universal Postal Union (UPU), the agreement will now allow the eight countries to exchange money orders on a multilateral basis. This is particularly valuable in countries such as the United Arab Emirates, where more than 80% of the population are foreigners, and millions of dollars are sent to home countries through remittances. 

The Governments of India, the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates launched a pilot project to test and identify best practices in managing the temporary contractual employment cycle. The lessons learned from the pilot project will form the basis for developing a comprehensive regional framework that can be carried out on a much larger scale.

The UAE Ministry of Labour and India’s Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs signed a protocol to streamline the admission of Indian contract workers by way of an electronic contract registration and validation system.