They called for the launch of a "secret shopper" and tighter control of job advertisements
Citizens demand a “minimum” for salaries in the private sector
Citizens looking at job opportunities at a job fair.
archival
picture
Citizens called on the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation to set a minimum salary limit for national cadres working in the private sector, to prevent the exploitation of the support provided by the "Nafes" program to them.
The ministry confirmed that it had monitored private companies offering jobs with low salaries to citizens, stressing that it would deal with them without complacency, and asking those with labor relations to report the violations themselves.
The demands included the application of the information circulation law to anyone who publishes or circulates misleading advertisements for jobs for citizens, and the adoption of “secret shoppers”, or the formation of a committee to monitor the conditions of citizens working in the private sector.
In detail, citizens circulated, on social media platforms, advertisements for jobs for citizen cadres with low salaries, ranging between 2000 and 3000 dirhams, indicating that the advertised companies take advantage of the support provided by the government through “Nafes” for citizens in the private sector, and reduce the salary scale offered to them.
Emirates Today contacted a citizen, who refused to be named, who reported that a company specializing in the health field offered 5,000 dirhams for a vacancy, claiming that Nafes would pay another 5,000 dirhams, and then the citizen would get 10,000 dirhams.
He added that after searching on the company's website for the offered vacancy, it was found that his salary was 8,000 dirhams, stressing that "this is an exploitation of the privileges offered by the program."
Mwatana said that she applied for a job in a private entity, and although she has a bachelor's degree and work experience, she was surprised that the salary offered to her did not exceed 3,000 dirhams.
She indicated the need to tighten control over private sector companies that take advantage of Nafis initiatives.
Citizen Aisha Mohammed called for coordination between the agencies concerned with employment, led by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, to determine the number of jobs in government and private agencies that citizens can occupy, noting that “it is necessary to review the advertisements circulating about hiring citizens with low salaries and non-skilled jobs, such as driver's job.
She stated that "the appropriate way to deal with the employment of citizens in the private sector is to oblige companies to appoint 10% of their employees from the national cadres, and to set fines for the non-compliant party."
Citizen Yacoub Al Ali believed that "imposing financial fines on companies violating the settlement decision is not a sufficient deterrent, because companies can pay them without being negatively affected," considering that "it is better to freeze the file of the employer who does not respond to the settlement decision."
Among the published advertisements, which are circulated by citizens, is a private entity that requests Emirati supervisors for sites, for a period of nine hours per day (remotely), with a salary of 2000 dirhams, from which a percentage of the Pension Authority will be deducted, and registration will be done in “Nafis”, and a monthly amount ranging between 2000 and 5000 dirhams will be received.
Emirates Today contacted the owner of the application that published the advertisement, but it was not possible to obtain a response from him.
Another advertisement stated that "a private entity working in the oil and gas sector is requesting a national driver, to appoint him with a salary of 7,000 dirhams."
The director of the application, who is responsible for publishing the advertisement, confirmed that he does not accept job advertisements unless after confirming his authenticity from the advertiser by asking them to send the details by an official email, adding that “what is important to me is that the advertisement sent for publication is from an existing employer and via (email) Official".
He added that he asks the advertiser to send him a copy of the commercial license, and the sender's data (name, phone number, and job title).
For his part, lawyer Abdel Moneim Al-Suwaidi said that the law criminalizes the dissemination and circulation of false information, and increases the punishment for the person who commits this act, because what he publishes or circulates is incorrect, raises public opinion, and negatively affects members of society.
"The UAE is witnessing clarity and transparency in dealing with all issues, especially those related to the employment of citizens in the private sector," said Issa Al Mulla, director of the Emirates Program for the Development of National Cadres, adding that "the concerned authorities have a clear system that regulates and supports citizen work in this sector."
He continued: «Some companies may take advantage of the support provided to citizens in the private sector from the Nafes program, and reduce the salary scale for the job offered, claiming that the citizen will benefit from the support, but the responsibility in this case lies with all parties, whether the company, the citizen or the responsible official authorities, and therefore The private sector must be aware that the government's support for citizens working in it with 24 billion dirhams aims to support human capital, its stability, development and growth, and therefore it has a responsibility to communicate with the relevant institutions to report any abuses in this regard.
On the other hand, the Assistant Undersecretary for National Human Resources Development at the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, Ahmed Al Nasser, affirmed the Ministry's continuous keenness to employ citizens through the "Nafes" program.
He explained that monitoring the labor market is one of the ministry's responsibilities, which deals with a large number of establishments operating in the private sector, amounting to about 400,000 establishments, in addition to nearly five million workers in the private sector, including a number of citizens who have priorities.
And he stressed the lack of complacency in the application of laws and legislation that were put in place to regulate the labor market, explaining that the scope of the labor market starts from the contract between the two parties to the labor relationship (the worker and the employer), through an official contract issued by the Ministry’s systems, and includes all obligations between the two parties.
And Al Nasser continued: “Based on the contract between the two parties to the labor relationship, follow-up, oversight and governance processes begin by the ministry on the implementation of the contract terms, and any violation of the terms and conditions of the contract requires the intervention of the ministry,” pointing to the existence of channels for the stakeholders, to report the existence of violations.
He stressed the need for only the concerned person (the worker or the employer) to inform the Ministry of any breach of the contract, through the relationships specified for that.
He stressed that it is unacceptable for a person to speak on behalf of another to present any violation he is exposed to regarding the terms of the employment contract, adding that “some report the violation anonymously, without the person concerned himself informing the competent authority about the violation.”
He explained that "the contractual relationship is governed by agreed and certified terms, mechanisms, and foundations, so it cannot be reduced to a post on social media, which may cause adverse reactions, and then some issue, based on that, general rulings on the ministry not to monitor the application of the requirements of the contractual relationship." .
He said, "The recent period witnessed the circulation of publications on social media about companies that offer low salaries to citizens, in large numbers, and the ministry monitors and deals with them," stressing that the ministry is serious about applying the law against companies that prove any practices that violate what was agreed upon.
Mystery shopper
A member of the Federal National Council, Shatha Alai Al-Naqbi, called on citizens to obtain information about employment from official and reliable sources, noting the citizen's awareness of the UAE government's support for him to work in the private sector, through the "Nafis" program, to invest in the citizen's human element.
Regarding private companies' exploitation of "Nafes" initiatives to reduce the offered salaries, she stated that the concerned government agencies, led by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, have mechanisms to control the labor market, as well as penalties that can be taken against any employer that attempts to exploit these initiatives, demanding that the Checking the salary scale for jobs, so that there is no way to reduce them when presenting them to citizens wishing to work in the private sector.
She added, "Secret shoppers must be approved, or a committee should be formed to follow up citizens in the private sector, audit the salaries they receive, and ensure that they are not manipulated to take advantage of Nafes initiatives."
“The fines imposed for violating the settlement decision are not a sufficient deterrent, because companies can easily pay them.”
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news