ABU DHABI // The Ministry of Labour plans to work on new Emiratisation policies, the ministry undersecretary has said.
At a meeting earlier this week with members of the Federal National Council, Humaid bin Deemas spoke of the ministry’s plan for the next three years, assuring them that Emiratisation was a top priority.
He told members that Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, has asked the ministry to ensure Emiratisation figures increase tenfold over the next seven years.
He acknowledged the challenge, and said the ministry planned to work with its partners to set policies in line with current laws. The ministry is only mandated to regulate the private and semi-government sector in the country.
Mr bin Deemas added that the ministry would redevelop its strategy of categorising businesses. Currently categories are based on talent, Emiratisation quotas and company breaches.
He said the ministry would continue to bring in the best expatriate talent.
He noted that in a recent international survey, the Global Talent Competitiveness Index, the UAE was ranked 19th for attracting talent.
“We were among 20 other western countries, no other Arab countries were higher,” he said. “If we are at 19th place now, we can be 15 or 10 soon. If we want to be the first worldwide, we will.”
He said one of the ways the ministry was making good use of the current workforce was allowing women on their husband’s or father’s visa a two-year work permit. There are about 50,000 people in this category, mostly working at schools and hair salons.
Salim Al Ameri, an FNC member from Abu Dhabi, told Mr bin Deemas that some people have complained to that the permit was not subject to renewal after two years and needed to be reprocessed all over again, Mr bin Deemas said the two processes could be done online and were hassle-free.
In the area of inspections, Mr bin Deemas said the ministry would go beyond conventional methods of “getting an inspector, give them a car and tell them to go and inspect. We must now think of smart inspections and inspections that are not foreseen,” he said.
He said with more than 30,000 establishments in the country, the task was daunting.
“We cannot inspect all, we should know where to go,” he said. “With smart inspections, we will know where to go and hit a live target.”
Since 2000, the ministry has been feeding a database with information on all companies in the country.
“Much like the wages protection system, which not only tells us who doesn’t pay wages, but it also tells us about the relationship employers have with employers,” he said. “So that even before inspections, we know that this is a place to inspect.”
osalem@thenational.ae
