Private sector employers have been trying to cheat labour authorities by forging the age of their ageing workers to pay lower fees for the renewal of their labour cards, a Ministry of Labour official was reported on Monday as saying.
Under the labour law in the UAE, employers must pay Dh5,000 and renew the labour card for their workers aged between 60 and 65 years on an annual basis while cards can be provided for three years to younger workers.
“Nearly 99 per cent of the applications involving requests to amend the age of the workers are intended to circumvent the law and avoid payment of the required fees for workers aged above 60 years,” said Saif Al Suwaidi, director of the services centre at the Ministry of Labour.
“The Ministry has rejected those applications because it bases its approval on age data provided to it when those workers enter the UAE for the first time,” he added, quoted by the semi official daily Alittihad.
Suwaidi said many of those rejected applicants try again to get their requests approved during “open-days” organized regularly by the Ministry in Abu Dhabi and Dubai for workers in the private sector.
But he stressed that payment of labour card fees must be made by the employer not the worker. “ Under the law, employers should not force the workers to pay fees for their labour card issuance or renewal,” he added.
Suwaidi said the Ministry would also maintain its tough measures regarding modifications of labour contracts, including changing the worker’s profession or salary. “We want to ensure these applications are authentic and credible in order to guarantee a real labour relationship in the UAE.”