The number of labour disputes brought before courts in Abu Dhabi has nearly halved in the last 12 months.
A total of 9,779 cases have been heard in the capital so far this year - down from 16,897 at the same period of 2017.
Awareness campaigns educating workers about their rights, arming them with knowledge to settle issues outside of the system, have been cited as a key factor in the 42 per cent drop by the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD).
Legal wrangles between employer and employee can be sparked by a range of issues, ranging from hours to benefits and salary concerns.
Ahmed Al Marzouqi, head of ADJD labour court committee, said previously labourers in the dark over their employment rights would often seek legal action when it was not necessary.
"Now they know how to resolve disputes with their employers outside of court, and know what it is they have the right to complain about and that there are some things that they have no right to complain about," he said.
"Previously, there were many complaints filed that had no legal grounds.
Awareness campaigns targeted 135,000 workers, while the labour court committee also plans to hold talks with employers to ensure they are aware of their duty of care to workers.
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Films highlighting the rights of labourers have been produced in several languages at workers' villages, including Arabic, English, Urdu, Pashto and Bengali.
The committee will also be awarding the best workers' village and the best performing worker in initiatives aimed at boosting workplace morale. The campaign will soon include female workers as well, said Mr Al Marzouqi.
"Awareness campaigns focus on organizing activities in labor villages to ensure access to a large segment of the target group," he said.
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Retirement funds heavily invested in equities at a risky time
Pension funds in growing economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have a sharply higher percentage of assets parked in stocks, just at a time when trade tensions threaten to derail markets.
Retirement money managers in 14 geographies now allocate 40 per cent of their assets to equities, an 8 percentage-point climb over the past five years, according to a Mercer survey released last week that canvassed government, corporate and mandatory pension funds with almost $5 trillion in assets under management. That compares with about 25 per cent for pension funds in Europe.
The escalating trade spat between the US and China has heightened fears that stocks are ripe for a downturn. With tensions mounting and outcomes driven more by politics than economics, the S&P 500 Index will be on course for a “full-scale bear market” without Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, Citigroup’s global macro strategy team said earlier this week.
The increased allocation to equities by growth-market pension funds has come at the expense of fixed-income investments, which declined 11 percentage points over the five years, according to the survey.
Hong Kong funds have the highest exposure to equities at 66 per cent, although that’s been relatively stable over the period. Japan’s equity allocation jumped 13 percentage points while South Korea’s increased 8 percentage points.
The money managers are also directing a higher portion of their funds to assets outside of their home countries. On average, foreign stocks now account for 49 per cent of respondents’ equity investments, 4 percentage points higher than five years ago, while foreign fixed-income exposure climbed 7 percentage points to 23 per cent. Funds in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are among those seeking greater diversification in stocks and fixed income.
• Bloomberg
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Humaira Tasneem (c), Chamani Senevirathne (vc), Subha Srinivasan, NIsha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Esha Oza, Ishani Senevirathne, Heena Hotchandani, Keveesha Kumari, Judith Cleetus, Chavi Bhatt, Namita D’Souza.
