US embassy cable - 05ABUDHABI3074

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, Labor, Camel Jockeys 
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