DUBAI, 5 March 2007 — The United Arab Emirates yesterday announced that it would introduce new contract standards to regulate relations between domestic workers and their employers with effect from April 1, the official news agency WAM reported.
Gen. Saif ibn Zayed Al-Nahayan, minister of the interior, announced the details of a new unified contract that is designed to regulate the rights and responsibilities of domestic workers.
Gen. Saif said the new contract will play a significant role in improving the quality of life of expatriate residents, particularly domestic workers who constitute a large segment of the work force.
He added that government departments will enforce the new contract when issuing new work visas for domestic workers. “The core of the new contract is transparency in relationship between the employer and the worker, while ensuring that rights of both parties are protected,” said Mohammad Al-Marri, director of the Department of Naturalization and Residency in Dubai, and chairman of the department’s committee responsible for drafting the new unified contract.
“The contract stresses the importance of regulating work, the nature of work involved, and the need for clearly defined rest periods. It also states the importance of providing proper health care, in line with government rules, and states that salaries should also be agreed upon by both parties,” Al-Marri added.
The domestic workers contract will be valid for two years and can be extended by mutual consent. It includes conditions governing vacation, air tickets and medical care. It also details the procedures to be taken should either party wish to break the contract before the end of the contract period or if an employee chooses to be reimbursed instead of using his or her vacation or flight tickets.
According to the new procedures, three original copies of the contract — in Arabic and English — must be signed by both parties. Each party will receive one copy and the third will be filed with the Department of Immigration and Naturalization.
The first article of the new contract specifies the monthly salary. It also states that the salary must be paid in full at the end of every month. Both parties must sign a salary slip — in Arabic and English — each month which will be kept by the employer as a record of payments.
