Purchasing insurance policies is a major requirement for issuing a work permit for employees

The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation has confirmed that employers must purchase an insurance policy for all their workers, as it is a major requirement for issuing a work permit, in a way that guarantees their financial entitlements, within the “Worker Protection Insurance” system, which provides insurance for all the worker’s financial entitlements, including unpaid wages, under an insurance policy to cover the worker’s entitlements in the event that the employer refrains from paying those entitlements, with a ceiling of up to 20 thousand dirhams for a period of 30 months.

The Ministry explained, in a package directed to employers, which Emirates Today viewed, that the program provides 4 insurance packages according to the categories of workers and establishments, at prices ranging from 40 to 100 dirhams per year, stressing a set of legal obligations that include the various leaves to which the worker is entitled and not withholding the worker’s official documents or forcing him to leave the country upon the end of the work relationship, and granting him a free experience certificate that includes the last wage he received and the reason for the end of the employment contract, provided that the certificate does not include anything that might harm the worker. It also warned of 11 violations that require the imposition of administrative violations and penalties, including “sham nationalization, the facility that does not carry out its actual activity, the facility exploiting or misusing the electronic powers granted, the citizen not joining work or interruption, and the company’s failure to commit to appointing the trainee after the end of the training period.”

In detail, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation issued an awareness package for employers to introduce them to their rights, obligations and legal duties, with the aim of achieving a national vision aimed at providing a stable and safe work environment that supports professional development and enhances productivity and ease of business, through balance in the contractual relationship between the two parties of work, the worker and the employer, and in a way that guarantees their rights as an embodiment of the principle of justice and transparency.

The brief dealt with the worker’s rights to various leaves, as the worker is entitled to paid annual leave for a period of 30 days for each year of service, or two days for each month if his period of service exceeds six months and does not reach a year. The worker is also entitled to maternity leave for a period of 60 days, including 45 days with full pay and 15 days with half pay, with the prohibition of terminating her services or warning her due to pregnancy or obtaining maternity leave. The worker is also entitled to sick leave of up to 90 days, distributed between 15 days with full pay. 30 days with half pay and 45 days without pay, in addition to parental, mourning, national service, and academic leave in accordance with legal controls.

It explained that the foreign worker is entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after one year of continuous work, at the rate of 21 days for each of the first five years, and 30 days for each subsequent year, on the basis of the last basic wage, while the citizen is subject to the regulations applied in the state. It also stressed the employer’s obligation to bear the expenses of the worker’s return to the place of his recruitment or any other place agreed upon, unless he moves to work for another employer or the reason for terminating the contract is due to the worker. The Ministry also indicated that the employer may include a non-compete clause in the employment contract if The nature of the worker’s job enables him to gain access to business secrets or the customer base, provided that the duration of the condition does not exceed two years from the date of expiration of the contract, specifying its temporal and spatial scope and type of work. The condition does not apply if the termination of the contract is due to the employer.

The Ministry confirmed that the employer bears all fees for bringing and employing the worker from his country, government fees, and prescribed guarantees and insurances, in addition to providing the minimum training, qualification and empowerment for the workers, and ensuring that they are informed of their rights and duties, with a commitment to pay wages on their due dates in accordance with the applicable regulations.

Regarding the Emiratisation file, the Ministry stressed the commitment of establishments to achieve Emiratisation targets according to their sizes and economic activities, explaining the establishments’ success in achieving three times the Emiratisation target and the establishment’s file being free of any violations of the law regulating labor relations, which qualifies it to be promoted to the first category in the establishment classification system and obtain membership in the Emiratisation Partners Club, through which the establishment receives discounts of up to 80% on the services provided by the Ministry. It also warned against “sham nationalisation” and exploiting Emiratisation programmes, Stressing that it is prohibited for an establishment to display any misleading job advertisements that do not represent an available and real job opportunity or unskilled professional levels, and to refer to government Emiratisation policies or their benefits when advertising jobs without obtaining prior permission from the Ministry, and to include in the job advertisement the benefits of government support and incentives related to citizens in the private sector.

Regarding the worker protection program, the Ministry explained that it provides insurance for all the worker’s financial entitlements, including unpaid wages, under an insurance policy to cover the worker’s entitlements in the event that the employer refuses to pay those entitlements, with a ceiling of 20 thousand dirhams, for a period of 30 months. This document also covers the expenses of transporting the worker’s body, stressing that the employer must purchase an insurance policy for all workers to guarantee their financial entitlements as a main requirement for issuing a work permit.

It showed a list of prices for insurance packages within the worker protection insurance system, which includes 4 packages that vary according to categories of workers and establishments, where the value of the skilled worker’s policy is 137.5 dirhams for 30 months or 55 dirhams for a year, for a limited-skilled worker it is 180 dirhams for 30 months or 72 dirhams for a year, and for a worker in high-risk establishments it is 250 dirhams for 30 months or 100 dirhams for one year, while the value of the domestic worker’s document is 100 dirhams for 30 months or 40 dirhams for one year.

With regard to the wage protection system, the Ministry explained that the system ensures that the worker receives his full wages on time through banks, exchange offices, and financial institutions approved and authorized to provide wage payment services by the Central Bank of the country, indicating the measures taken against establishments that are late in payment, which begin by sending electronic notices on the third and tenth days after the due date, leading to stopping the issuance of new work permits for the violating establishment on the seventeenth day after the due date, calling on employers to commit to paying wages within the first 15 days. days from the due date to ensure compliance with policies and legislation and to avoid violations.

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11 violations require the imposition of violations and penalties

The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation has warned of 11 violations that require the imposition of administrative violations and penalties, including “delay in paying the wages of workers in the facility, the facility not carrying out its actual activity, the facility not committing to providing labor housing, the facility exploiting or misusing the electronic powers granted, fictitious nationalization, submitting incorrect data and documents, not renewing documents, the citizen not joining work or interruption, terminating the citizen’s service and reassigning him to the same company, and failure to report… Changes to the terms of use, and the company’s non-commitment to appointing the trainee after the end of the training period.”