Companies must work harder for their workers

The most recent report on labour relations in the UAE shows enormous improvements, but companies need to take responsibility as well

There was a surprising amount of good news contained in the rather unglamorous report on industrial relations in Dubai released last week by the Federal Government, but there was also much room for improvement. Start with strikes. As reported yesterday, the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking has found that while labour strikes in Dubai fell, the number of workers involved in them rose over the past year, to a total of 26,000 workers who had participated in industrial action.

That number is of concern, especially since 20 of the 34 strikes involved delayed wage payments. Coupled with a second finding that nearly Dh30 million owed to workers as wages was recovered from companies, it suggests that some organisations are not paying their workers what they are due.

That is simply unacceptable and does great damage to the workers – who work for modest wages and are unlikely to have the cushion of savings – and the ability of the country to attract workers. Bad behaviour by companies hurt the UAE.

Already one recruitment firm has said that unskilled workers in India are not willing to work for the salaries the UAE offers. Couple that with bad word of mouth and the UAE could find itself with an acute shortage of good workers. Even worse, it may have to settle for bad workers.

Companies must understand that the Government sets the laws, but cannot police the details of every employment contract. And yet bad behaviour by companies does very real damage to the reputation of the country, potentially impacting tourism and business and broader relations.

On the positive side, the report does suggest that workers better understand their rights and are more willing to engage in dialogue early, thus avoiding strikes. And more can be done on the human resources side. Too often, HR departments see workers as a static resource, endlessly renewable at the same skill level, rather than seeking to train dependable workers, and pay them more.

The UAE is growing at breakneck speed and labour practices have not always kept pace, although they are gaining ground. But in order to maintain the goal of making the UAE the best place to work in the world, HR departments and companies in general need to do their part. It is not merely the workers who have to get to work.