UAE Announces Domestic Workers Law For Golden Visa Holder!

UAE announces new visa rules that allow golden visa holders to sponsor unlimited maids, nannies, and domestic workers in the nation. According to the UAE government portal, the golden visa holder can bring many domestic workers to the country following the new visa rule, which was enacted on December 15.  

the guidelines for the recruitment of household service workers state a number of exceptions

Federal Decree-Law No.9 of 2022 provides rules related to the hiring and employment of domestic workers in the UAE. The law boosts the rights of workers and imposed some restrictions and benefits to create a healthy environment in the workplace. The government took steps to strengthen the regulations and safeguard thousands of employees from different countries including maids, cooks, nannies, gardeners, and drivers. 

The golden visa enables long-term residence for foreign talent to live, work or study in UAE. investors, scientists, entrepreneurs, humanitarian pioneers, frontline heroes, and outstanding students or graduates can have the benefit of recruiting employers to the UAE. This privileged group who does not need a sponsor to enter the country can sponsor workers according to the law. The modified set of laws that provide guidance on recruiting and its procedures are also applicable to golden visa holders. 

The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) said a “comprehensive legal framework”, has been developed to provide proper governance to the recruiter and employers to avoid increasing cruelty faced by the employers. So, it is important to ensure the contractual obligations are met over wages, medical treatment, and accommodation. 

The workers should not be recruited from their country unless they are provided with the information regarding nature of the work, salary, and other benefits. Before employment, the physical status including health condition, psychological status, health condition, and capacity of the workers should also make available before the ministry. 

Federal law encourages to follow the legal requirement for admitting workers and providing the basic facilities and requirements they want. That includes the working hours and weekly holidays of the workers. The law says that weekends and a minimum of 12 hours rest should be allowed per day and a minimum of 30 days annual leaves is also mandated. 

According to the law, offenses and new penalties were implemented which include:

1. Those who create false information or documents to employ a domestic worker are subjected to fines between Dh20,000 and Dh100,000 along with six months of imprisonment.
2. An employee who is under the age of 18 years is prohibited from recruiting, if someone breaches the rule or practices illegal activities face a fine of up to Dh200,000. 
3. Forced labor or trafficking in accordance with national law and ratified international conventions are also prohibited according to the law. 
4. People who hired unlicensed workers, recruit staff without providing jobs or wages, or use the workers for other purposes rather than the agreement will be considered an offense and fined a minimum of Dh50,000 to a maximum of Dh200,000. 
5. Discrimination based on race, color, religion, or profession is considered an offense.
6. The same penalties are applied to the recruitment agency which operates without setting wages owned to domestic workers. 
7. All the penalties will be doubled if someone repeats the offense. 

The UAE Ministry, experiences continuous messages, emails, and comments related to the recruitment and struggles of workers facing in the workplace. So it is important to impose laws to safeguard the workers and protect them from cruelty.

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The ministry is in the process of making the law and providing information regarding workers’ rights. The government of UAE is attempting to resolve the disputes within a period of a minimum of 2 weeks. If not solved within 14 days the case will be referred to court. The implementation of the law truly benefits the workers who come from their country in search of jobs to the UAE and can have a safe work environment.