TIP ACTION UPDATE: LABOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABU DHABI 003074

SIPDIS

STATE PASS USTR FOR CLATANOFF, ROSENBERG
STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, NEA/RA, DRL/IL, G/TIP, G, INL, DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/12/2015
TAGS: ELAB PHUM ETRD PREL TC
SUBJECT: TIP ACTION UPDATE: LABOR

REF: STATE 99833

Classified By: (U) Classified by Ambassador Michele J. Sison, reason 1.
4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: The UAE Ministry of Labor has taken a number
of proactive steps since June 1 in response to the TIP
Mini-Action Plan (reftel) that requires the UAE to establish
shelters for trafficking victims, articulate how the UAEG
will extend formal protection to domestic workers and other
laborers, and conduct broad public awareness campaigns
highlighting the rights and obligations of domestic workers
and laborers and the consequence of abusing such workers.
New protections include a mandatory midday break for outdoor
laborers during the hottest summer months, a new proposed
sponsorship transfer system, and an MOU requiring salary and
job information be published directly in work visas. The
UAEG is also considering a series of future controls to
prevent further worker exploitation, including decreasing the
number of steps to get a work permit, changing the
application process to a barcode or internet based system,
the new identity card program that will include work permit
information, enacting a possible new law on domestic
servants, and expanding salary protection through direct
deposit requirements. Finally, the Ministry of Labor is
opening a new media information office at the ministry and
conducting a broad public awareness campaign to inform
workers of their rights, including newspaper articles,
multilingual leaflets, and T-shirts and hats. These actions
show the Ministry of Labor is committed to increasing worker
protections for the 2.1 million foreign workers under its
mandate. End Summary.

Formal Protections
--------------

2. (U) In late June, the Ministry of Labor (MoL) announced a
new decree effective July 1 that requires companies to give
outdoor laborers a four hour midday break (from 12:30 to 4:30
pm) during the peak summer months of July and August.
Minister of Labor Dr. Ali Al Ka'abi announced that this
decision is meant to protect laborers and raise the human
rights standards of the UAE, and not to satisfy "private
interests." The MoL, although short on labor inspectors, has
begun inspecting construction and outdoor sites since July 7,
and has identified at least 15 companies (out of 80
inspected) that failed to enforce the break. Minister Al
Ka'abi has publicly and privately asserted that these
companies will face fines of 10,000 dirham (2700 USD) for the
first offense, and that these fines will be increased for
subsequent offenses.


3. (U) On July 1, the Ministry of Labor publicly announced
that it is considering a new sponsorship transfer system,
under who the 2.1 million workers regulated by the MoL will
be able to more freely change jobs (these workers do not
include government employees or domestic servants, which are
regulated directly by the Department of Immigration and the
Ministry of Interior respectively). The UAE Cabinet approved
a draft resolution on this program at its final summertime
session on July 12. The new system would allow highly
skilled workers (those holding graduate or professional
degrees) to transfer jobs after one year. Workers holding
bachelor's degrees would be allowed to change employment
after two years, with a maximum of two transfers in a
lifetime. Unskilled workers and laborers would be permitted
to change employment after 3 years (allowing more time for
training),but only once in their lifetime. There would also
be a new, six-year maximum stay in the UAE for unskilled
workers.


4. (C) These new procedures will increase the ability of
unskilled workers and employees holding bachelor's degrees to
change employment (they are currently not able to change
sponsorship under UAE law). However, the sponsorship laws
will still require the old employer, the new employer, and
the employee to agree on the change in sponsorship--which in
practice means that the employee will need to submit a letter
of no-objection from the old employer before being able to
accept new employment. Many laborers and workers view this
change as very positive, and the Ministry of Labor was
incapacitated the first day after the announcement by the
sheer flood of people calling and visiting the Ministry to
inquire about the new system.


5. (SBU) The Ministry of Labor will shortly sign an MOU with
the Ministry of Interior that commits the two ministries to
working more closely on publishing salary and job information
directly in a worker's visa in the passport. Currently, the
visa lists the job title, but there are frequent cases where
an employee and an employer have a different understanding of
the agreed-upon salary. This new procedure will require the
minimum salary for all workers (including unskilled laborers
and domestic workers) to be published directly on the visa,
ensuring that all parties are fully informed of the terms of
work and that the paperwork filed in each ministry agrees.
This practice will also help ensure that workers cannot be
taken advantage of by unscrupulous employers.


6. (U) The UAE labor dispute settlement process addresses
thousands of cases each year through arbitration or
reconciliation, judicial systems, and inspections. The
Ministry of Labor is requesting additional money in its
budget to allow for more lawyers to represent low-paid
workers in the arbitration cases (lawyers are already
automatically provided to workers in judicial cases). The
MoL is also encouraging a greater percentage of dispute cases
to go through arbitration, rather than the significantly
slower judicial process--important since the maximum length
of a temporary work visa is six months. In 2004, the MoL
adjudicated 11,424 disputes involved 16,425 workers at its 10
offices in all 7 emirates. In the first half of 2005, the
MoL has adjudicated 8,399 complaints involving 11,699
laborers.

Shelters
--------------

7. (SBU) The UAE government permits a number of shelters for
abused and/or trafficked domestic workers to operate in the
UAE. These shelters are typically small and modest, but do
provide a short-term refuge for some victims. The Embassies
of the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia all sponsor such
shelters in Abu Dhabi. Additionally, the Sri Lankan embassy
announced a new minimum salary for Sri Lankan domestic
workers employed in the UAE, stating that all such workers
would be required to earn a salary equivalent to 150 dollars
a month or the embassy would not certify the work contract or
provide insurance for the workers. The UAE has the second
largest overseas Sri Lankan community with 160,000 domestic
workers in the country.

Future Controls
--------------

8. (C) Minister of Labor Al Ka'abi detailed a number of
proactive steps the MoL is working on to prevent future
exploitation of workers. One of these steps is to limit the
amount of paperwork required to get a work permit from the
current 49 steps to five in an effort to combat fraud. This
process, which begins implementation in August, involves
eliminating the triplicate forms that are currently in place
for each of the federal ministries involved with foreign
workers (i.e. Ministries of Labor, Interior, Health and the
Immigration Department). The new system will utilize a
single form, with a machine-readable barcode, that can
transfer the data electronically to the different ministries.
This will eliminate the procedure of triplicate forms, which
have often been misused by employers putting different
salaries on each form, resulting in a worker receiving lower
wages than previously agreed-upon. Minister Al Ka'abi also
noted that he hopes to move the system to an internet-based
system (internet is widely available in the UAE) to allow
wider access to the forms.


9. (U) The UAE began a pilot program for its new identity
card program in June 2005. The program aims to issue
identity cards equipped with Smart Chip technology to all UAE
nationals and residents within the new three years. These
identity cards provide a more complete way to track
residents, as the Smart Chip will contain copies of the work
permit to allow better tracking of the labor market, and
enable officials to verify such information as sponsor and
salary to ensure compliance with MoL regulations.


10. (C) Minister of Labor Al Ka'abi told Ambassador that the
UAE is considering a law on domestic servants, but this law
will not be issued until after the labor law revisions are
completed and passed. The eventual law will encourage people
to limit their the number of domestic servants to two people
per household, and compliance will be guaranteed by a fee
structure that charges work permit fees at a lower level for
the first two servants per household, and increasing them
significantly for all other servants. This move will be
intended to eliminate abuses that occur by Emirati families
bringing in more employees than they need who are then forced
to find illegal work on the local market without adequate
legal protection.


11. (C) The Ministry of Labor is also working with banks on
expanding salary protection for workers, by requiring
companies to direct deposit salaries into bank accounts. The
MoL is intending to monitor both deposits and withdrawals
from the accounts to prevent potential abuse by employers who
deposit money into an account but withdraw it after the
report is made to the MoL. By requiring direct deposit, the
Ministry of Labor is intending to guarantee that companies
are paying wages on time (avoiding one of the great problems
in the UAE labor market which is the late payment of wages)
and that the companies are paying the agreed-upon salary from
the work contract. This process is not in place yet, since
banks currently require a minimum balance, but the MoL is
currently in negotiations with the UAE's commercial banks to
eliminate this requirement.

Public Awareness Campaign
--------------

12. (U) The UAE is conducting a broad public awareness
campaign on its new labor policies, particularly regarding
the required midday break and the possible change in
sponsorship transfer regulations. A significant number of
articles have been published in both the local English and
Arabic press, including enforcement and punishment actions
taken against companies caught violating the midday break.
The Ministry of Labor has also announced the formation of a
new media office to better handle public and press inquiries
on MoL policies.


13. (U) In addition to press articles, the Ministry of Labor
has conducted a broad public awareness campaign on the new
midday regulations including sending Ministry officials to
major construction sites to inform employers and workers of
the new rules and printing leaflets in Arabic, English and
Urdu explaining the new regulations. Minister Al Ka'abi also
said the Ministry is currently printing T-shirts and hats for
workers encouraging workers to contact the MoL for violations
of regulations. These articles of clothing will include the
logos of both the MoL and the Immigration Department, hoping
to allay worker fears that Immigration will crack down on
workers who report employers to the MoL.
SISON