SHARJAH, 31 May 2005 — The UAE government has announced plans to conduct a national census late this year, with the expectation that the finding would show a total population of around five million, a 20-fold growth from 1971 when the UAE was formed.

Minister of Economy and Planning Sheikha Lubna Al-Qasimi, chairperson of the High Commission for the Population, Housing and Establishment Census, said the whole process will be transparent and all information collected will be made available to the public.

Also gathered during the census will be details about housing and various organizations that exist in the country, she said.

Census 2005, the fifth in the UAE, will be launched on the night of Dec. 5 and will last until the early hours of Dec. 6. Earlier censuses were conducted in 1975, 1980, 1985 and 1995.

“Census is the best way of collecting specific information, which is not available in databases of residency and economic departments and municipalities,” said Sheikha Lubna.

While the minister declined to give any estimates of the population in the UAE, long-time residents said it might touch the five-million mark.

At the end of last year, the UAE population was estimated at 4.33 million compared with 4.041 million at the end of 2003.

Census 2005 will also be the first time hand-held electronic information devices are used in a general census in the UAE.

The devices, called Personal Digital Assistants (PDAS), will replace the traditional forms and registers.

They will expedite work, minimize mistakes and improve efficiency, said Sheikha Lubna.

She outlined the goals of Census 2005 as:

• Setting economic, social and population policies and plans.

• Estimating population growth rate and work force, working out policies and priorities of educational and training programs.

• Provision of comprehensive and updated framework of all economic and statistical surveys and studies by sample methodology.

• Collection of wide database for research and studies as a reliable source of data to international organizations.

End-of-Service Benefits

In yet another move to streamline the labor market in the UAE, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs have warned the employers should not try to squirm out of their responsibility to settle end-of-term benefits to employees.

The labor law says that employers should offer such benefits under a firm format outlining the rate of payment against duration of service. This is a mandatory obligation on the part of the employers. However, it has been noticed that some employers argue that these benefits are included in the monthly salaries they pay their employees and therefore the employees are not entitled to separate settlements.

Ministry officials referred to such practices and said it is illegal to have any stipulation in the labor contract that the end-of-service benefits are included in the monthly salary. Such agreements are not valid since they contravene the labor law, said the officials.

The official made the clarification after several cases were brought to their attention where the employer had included a clause in the labor contract that the employee was being paid end-of-term benefits along with the monthly salary.

First of all, the Ministry of Labor would not endorse such agreements. Ministry endorsement is necessary for any labor agreement to be valid and legal.

Even if the employee has signed such an agreement, he or she is still entitled to the end-of-term settlement and the employer would not be able to escape the obligation, said the officials.

Under current UAE law, a worker who has completed a year or more of continuous service is entitled to severance pay on the termination of his/her employment.

The severance pay shall be calculated on the basis of 21 days’ basic salary for each year of the first five years of service and 30 days’ basic salary for each additional year of service, provided that the total amount of severance pay shall not exceed two years’ salary.