The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation in the United Arab Emirates issued new decisions regarding the dates for the start of implementing financial fines against companies that do not comply with Emiratisation goals.
The Ministry explained that Emirati companies that employ more than 50 workers must commit to achieving the Emiratization goal before next June 30, so that the percentage of Emirati workers in these companies will be 1% before the deadline announced by the Ministry.
Verifying companies’ compliance with localization goals
The Ministry said in an official statement that, starting next month, it will verify UAE companies’ compliance with Emiratisation goals, and in the event of non-compliance, huge financial fines will be imposed against these companies.
A fine of 48,000 dirhams will be imposed on violating companies
The Ministry indicated that if companies do not comply with Emiratisation goals, a fine of 48,000 UAE dirhams will be imposed on them for every citizen who is not appointed during the first six months of the current year.
The Ministry also clarified that the calculated fines will accumulate at an amount of 8,000 dirhams per month per person for every month during which the company does not implement Emiratisation goals in the Emirates, and the monthly fine will be increased by 1,000 dirhams every year.
Employment of Emiratis by 10% in private companies
It is worth noting that the Ministry of Human Resources in the UAE had previously indicated that it aims for the percentage of Emirati workers in private companies in the country to reach at least 10% by 2026.
A 1% percentage of Emirati workers in these companies will be activated during the first half of this year and another 1% during the second half of this year, with an annual increase of 2% every year.
97 thousand Emiratis work in private companies in the UAE
It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Human Resources revealed, during a recent report and bulletin, that there are currently about 97,000 Emirati employees in about 20,000 private sector companies in the country.
For his part, the UAE Minister of Human Resources, Abdul Rahman Al-Awar, confirmed that these reports confirm the effectiveness of the decisions and policies taken by the ministry recently, to support government Emiratisation initiatives in the private sector, in accordance with the program launched by the ministry, the “Nafes Programme” for Emiratisation.
Violating companies will be fined
It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation in the UAE recently announced 1,379 companies that circumvented the Emiratisation goals set by the Ministry, and these companies employed 2,170 illegal Emirati employees during the year 2022.
The Ministry imposed financial fines against these companies starting from the date of their violation, and obliged them to take corrective procedures for citizenship goals. The classification of these violating companies was also reduced, and their files were referred to the Public Prosecution.
In the end, the Ministry called on companies that are not committed to Emiratisation goals to benefit from the Ministry’s “Nafis Platform”, which includes data on Emirati citizens qualified for current employment in various specializations.
