Low-income UAE workers must be given free accommodation – ruling

Low-income workers in the United Arab Emirates will soon be provided free accommodation by their employers, according to a new decree announced on Monday.

The new ruling applies to all the workers who earn less than Dhs 2,000 per month, the UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation revealed.

The decree, which is expected to come into force this December, will only cover companies that hire over 50 workers, official news agency WAM reported.

However, the Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation Saqr Ghobash also urged facilities that have a workforce of less than 50 workers and employ people who earn more than Dhs 2,000 per month to provide proper accommodation to their employees.

“The decree, which demands that facilities that employ over 50 workers earning Dhs 2,000 or less per month provide proper accommodation to those workers, came following recent studies related to the labour market,” Ghobash said.

“Experts spent several months studying the living conditions of those workers, who have been listed in the ministry’s classifications system as low-skill labourers. The ministry follows up on the workers’ housing via inspectional visits and takes legal action against violating facilities.”

The new ruling also calls for labour accommodations with less than 500 tenants to meet the general criteria and services standards as stipulated in a ministerial decree issued in 2014.

Meanwhile areas that house over 500 tenants must adhere to the conditions laid out in a decree issued by the UAE Cabinet in 2009, the report said.

The report warned that all the necessary measures will be taken against companies that “disobey or violate” the terms and regulations of the new decree.

Earlier this year, the UAE said it was focussed on protecting workers’ rights in the country from the time they are employed to ensure “equality” for its workforce.

A new report was published by the ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation which highlighted new measures taken to ensure that all workers who come to the UAE “are recruited and employed equitably, safe in their place of work and free to advance professionally and personally”.

Read more here: UAE pledges to protect workers’ rights to ensure ‘equality’