Abu Dhabi, April 09: The Ministry of Labour has begun imposing deterrant penalties on 650 firms which have not registered with the Wages Protection System (WPS) after the expiry of the grace period given to them to register with the system by February 28. Around 150 companies had complied with the WPS in March.
A Labour Ministry source told Khaleej Times that 70 per cent of these firms are operating in the contracting sector and have offices in different emirates. Punishment enforced includes non-issuance of new employment permits to all the firms of the owner of the errant company and referral of the company officials responsible for the violation to the judiciary for legal action in case of repetition of the violations. The penalty will be lifted only after the court ruling or fixing the problem.
According to him, the Ministry will also stop processing applications for new employment permits if it finds that the company has submitted a salary declaration containing wrong information. Officials committing the offence will be brought to justice, he said.
Institutions failing to transfer workers’ wages by the deadlines specified will be denied the right to have new work permits. This ban will only be lifted in the month following the transfer of workers’ wages in full.
Companies that delay payment of wages by more than a month of the due date will be denied the right to have new work permits, along with all the establishments owned by the owner of the violating company, and to refer all those responsible for the violation to the court, in accordance with Ministerial Resolution No. 788 of 2009.
If the violation is repeated for the fourth time, a three-month ban on issuance of new work permits will be enforced, the source explained, adding that about 11,000 firms are now transferring salaries of more than 2 million workers through the WPS.
“The number of financial institutions authorised by the UAE Central Bank to provide the WPS service rose to 35 banks, 22 money exchange houses and four companies,’’ he added.
Results achieved so far indicate the Ministry is on the right course aimed at regulating the local labour market and creating a safe and effective working environment through introduction of innovative solutions that guarantee protection of workers’ rights and serve, at the same time, the interests of employers, he affirmed.
The figures, he stressed, reflect the increasing awareness among employers about the importance of the WPS.
WPS is an electronic salary transfer system that allows companies/institutions to pay workers their wages via banks, bureaux de change, and financial institutions approved and authorised to provide the service.
The system, developed by the Central Bank, allows the Ministry of Labour to create a database that records wage payments in the private sector to guarantee the timely and full payment of agreed-upon wages. The WPS covers all institutions registered with the Ministry across all sectors and industries and benefits different categories of labour.
–Agencies