UAE considers draft law to ban termination of Emiratis
The National Human Resource Development and Employment Authority (Tanmia) has drawn up the plans, which if agreed, would make it illegal for nationals to lose their jobs unless for a violation of the labour laws, according to UAE daily Gulf News.
Feddah Lootah, the acting director general at Tanmia, said the proposal aimed to safeguard Emirati’s jobs in the private sector. "The main task of the authority is to preserve the jobs of Emiratis," he said.
Lootah's comments comes days after Dubai’s Police Chief warned that arbitrary layoffs of UAE nationals by private sector companies were in breach of the law and the country's traditions.
Lt Gen Dhahi Khalfan Tamim said the police would boycott companies that terminated nationals at short notice, using the global crisis as an excuse.
Tamina's draft proposals state that if a company is forced to terminate a local, because of restructuring or as a result of a merger, then it must inform the ministry of the intention before moving forward with the decision.
However, every possible avenue must be explored to keep a local employee in post before job loss will be sanctioned by the ministry.
Part-time working, relocation, salary review and extra training for an alternative post must all be considered, and it will be unlawful to terminate an Emirati for lack of qualifications and skills if the probation period has passed, it adds.
No time-frame has yet been given by the ministry as to when a decision on the Tanmia proposals will be made.
However, last week a group of Emiratis filed a complaint against Al Futtaim Group for arbitrary termination of their employment contracts, according to the same newspaper.
The labour laws that cover the termination of a worker's contract are set out in Article 120 – there are 10 cases in which an employer is legally allowed to end an employee's contract.
These include non-performance of basic duties, repeated violations despite warnings, professional mistakes resulting in substantial material loss to the employer and clear disregard for safety instructions in the workplace.
Furthermore, changes to the pension law are also in the pipeline that will see a clause included in the social insurance scheme stipulating that unemployment insurance must be available to nationals, Lootah revealed.
So whats next? No Imaratis will ever have to work and companies have to pay them for free!
