As many of the private sector firms are pressurizing to secure job contracts ‘soon’ due to the new compulsory Emiratization timeline, Emirati jobseekers are made to face a dilemma. This is because some firms employ a few nationals just a few weeks before the deadline, which indicates a kind of pressure of job creation and fines.
Candidates who spoke to the media said that companies are constantly in touch with them for signing the job contracts regardless of the suitability of the position for the candidate.
MoHRE targets to realize ambitions of fortification of human resources from overseas by the end of June this year and part of 2024.
Business organizations in the private sector that have above fifty workers must ensure that one percent of them are locals before the set deadline and for every nationals not recruited they pay punitive measures of thousands of dirhams.
Among the participants, Amal Mohammed, 26 years from Dubai, responded that she applied for a particular job at a private company, but she refused it due to the long distance the company was from her house. Then, she was astonished to have several phone calls from the company, insisting her to join it. She told the employer that this job does not fit her experience, and the office they provide is quite a distance from where she lives.
He sent me the contract on the same quickly without informing me and then proceeded to call me the next day to sign the contract and do the medical examination and everything. I didn’t have enough time to even see what was written there in the contract, Amal said.
Mohammed stated that when she was going through the contract, she realized several mistakes such as her phone number, and her education level as that of high school while she had completed college.
Its executives continued to get in touch with her stating they would incur fines if she did not sign and go through most procedures as soon as possible. She rejected the offered job by mentioning these disparities.
Two other Emiratis expressed their opinion by stating that they had to agree to the employment contracts that their specific companies insisted on entering. They now feel that they should leave these workplaces because the jobs do not make them content.
Mismatched job offers
“Emiratis should be appointed like any other candidates; positions must be steady with the calibers of Emirati workers Their hiring must be planned systematically throughout the year not hired during the last moment fearing penalty Emiratis’ hiring must be a part of a strategic timeline not an emergency.” Said Pedro Lacerda, the senior vice president and executive team head at TASC Outsourcing.
“Such a development plays out because some firms fail to understand the strategic nature of Emiratization and its significance in the company’s planning process: Emiratization has to be a planned goal rather than an addendum.”
Fake Emiratization
The MoHRE has cautioned companies against employing Emirates for the mere purpose of escaping the given penalties. The ministry defines visa scam or ‘fake’ Emiratization unless the UAE national holds an actual position within the organization and receives a salary.
It said that 1,379 companies were caught hiring UAE citizens in violation of such laws from mid-2022 to May 16 this year.
“Some of the offending firms were penalized, others saw their credit ratings stripped, while some files were forwarded to the Public Prosecution.”
Fines of Dh 20,000 to Dh 100,000 were proposed in each such case.
Emiratization targets details
Private enterprises in the country need to implement an Emiratization plan to raise the proportion of Emirati employees to 10 % in 2026 at the least, an increase of 2 % every year from the current levels. This target is divided into two: The position is that the first half is equal to 1 percent, while the second half, according to the context, is also 1 percent.
At the end of last year, it was mandatory that each company should have at least 4% of its employees from Emirates. In this regard, the ratio should be increased to 5% by the end of this month, end of June. In order to create more employment opportunities for UAE nationals, a firm’s workforce, as mentioned, should be at least 6 percent UAE nationals before the end of 2024.
This year it is Dh 8,000 every month for each Emirati not employed by the companies.
