Fines on companies that fail to meet the Emiratisation target for 2023 will have to pay more fines than what was previously set, said Dr Abdulrahman Al Awar, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation in the UAE, in a media briefing conducted on Thursday.
Earlier, it was stated that the fine for private sector firms that fail to meet the Emiratisation target set for 2023 will be AED72,000. However, the latest change means that the fine is now set at AED84,000.
Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation, said the annual fine would be Dh84,000
As per the Emiratisation goal set for the year 2023, companies that have 50 or more skilled employees working under them need to ensure that 4 per cent of the workforce are Emiratis. A fine of AED84,000 per year will be charged to each Emirati the company fails to employ as per the goal.
Dr Al Awar also stated that the fine of AED84,000 will keep increasing each year.
According to data showcased by Dr Al Awar, over 7,000 companies that did not have any Emirati nationals working in their workforce did so for the first time under the Nafis programme.
There are also companies that exceeded their Emiratisation goals for 2023, and the government is planning to honour such companies for their continuous support of the initiatives by the UAE to improve job opportunities for Emiratis.
Adding to the points, Ghannam Al Mazrouei, Secretary General of the Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council (ETCC) stated that “The goal of the UAE leadership is to support the private sector companies operating in the country. The government is supporting the private sector by dedicating AED1.25 billion to train the Emirati workforce to work well in the private sector, as well as for supporting their salaries.”
Al Mazrouei also stated that “76 per cent of Emirati people who were hired for private sectors jobs never worked for any private companies at all.”
The latest move to increase the Emirati workforce is part of the “Nafis” programme in the UAE. Nafis is a federally implemented programme in the United Arab Emirates launched back in September 2021 as part of the “Projects of the 50” grand scheme and is focused on empowering Emirati men and women to focus on jobs in the private sector, instead of purely dedicating their search for government job vacancies.
Currently, over 50,000 Emiratis are working in private sector companies in UAE, with more than 28,700 of the workforce joining after the Nafis programme was introduced.
In 2022, 9,293 companies were able to meet the Emiratisation target for the year. The UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation has reiterated that private companies that show fake Emiratisation records will be heavily fined.
The UAE MoHRE was able to find 227 fake Emiratisation instances within 109 establishments, and they were downgraded to Category 3 companies and fines were issued as part of the penalty.
The Emirati workforce in the private sector can normally be found in clerical jobs as well as jobs that relate to the fields of science & technology, sales, and humanitarian services. UAE men and women are also interested in the fields of manufacturing, finance, trade, construction, business services, and trade.
Apart from taking initiatives to offer equal opportunities for Emirati men and women in the private sector, the Nafis scheme also provides several other benefits as well.
The Emirati Salary Support Scheme under Nafis provides support in the form of salaries and training for Emirati nationals interested in seeking work in the private sector. People employed in a full-time job are eligible for receiving a top-up under the scheme for the difference between the target salary and the actual salary they receive, with a ceiling amount set as per conditions.
There is a Pension Programme, wherein both Emirati employers and employees can receive assistance in their contributions to their pension fund.
There is a 12-month long Apprentice Programme, wherein financial rewards are offered to semi-government and private companies that work to improve the expertise of Emirati people in different sectors.
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Under the Child Allowance Scheme, allowances are provided to Emirati employees for up to four children.
There is a Talent Programme that helps to develop the competency and specialization of the Emirati workforce by assisting them to gain international professional certifications, thus allowing them to work better in the private sector.
The National Healthcare Programme allots scholarships and assistance for improving the interest of the Emirati workforce in the healthcare and nursing sector. The programme aims to assist 10,000 Emirati men and women to join the healthcare sector in the upcoming five years.
There are also Unemployment Benefits provided under the Nafis scheme, where employees who have recently lost their jobs for reasons that aren’t in their control receive financial support for a maximum of 6 months. People receiving the support must ensure that they are actively seeking new job opportunities and in case if the individual refuses to join an employment opportunity that’s provided to them, then they lose their unemployment benefits as well.