New ways to ease labourers’ load

Near-total compliance with the mandatory midday break law shows the UAE is making progress in labourers' working conditions.

The midday break for labourers has been a success story. Delores Johnson / The National

Nobody in the UAE needs to be reminded about the enervating midday heat at this time of year and least of all those who work outside. It's why the government has not just mandated a break for workers at the hottest time of the day in the summer months but has also bolstered the rule through a strict enforcement policy.
As The National reported yesterday, 10 years after the enactment of these protections, this is having the desired result. Out of nearly 45,000 site visits by the Ministry of Labour since June 15, when the law took effect for this year, just 56 breaches were discovered. Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah emirates had 100 per cent compliance rates and even Ras Al Khaimah, the emirate with the highest rate of breaches, had a 98.63 per cent compliance.
This is good news for a country that seeks to balance its rapid rate of modernisation with the welfare of its workers. However, complacency must not follow because nothing less than 100 per cent compliance will be good enough. Enforcement must continue to ensure standards do not slip and that employers abide with other parts of the law, including the provision of cold drinking water, salts, lemons and fresh salads to labourers.
The question now is what more can be done to improve working conditions further.
One obvious one is travel times, which remain unregulated so that some companies find cheap accommodation in distant locations then require their workers to spend hours on buses each day. This is thought to have been a factor in the bus crash that killed 13 labourers in Dubai this year. Including travel time in the working day would give an incentive to employers to house their workers nearer to their workplace.
Another is communication with home. With internet chat technology making international calls extremely cheap, this is a way to ease the burden of being away from families. And this is ultimately in the UAE's interests – better working conditions will help attract the best workers.