Violating companies to be fined Dh1,000

Companies that do not pay accumulating fines this month will have to pay an additional fine of Dh1,000 under the new regulations introduced at the start of the year, a labour official has said.

The new regulations stipulate that companies fined for labour violation should settle all payments on a monthly basis or they will be fined an extra Dh1,000 for each offence, said Humaid bin Dimas Al Suwaidi, Assistant Undersecretary, MInistry of Labour.

“The ministry will fine any offending company an additional Dh1,000 for every fine unless they pay all their fines before the end of this month,” he said, quoted by 'Alkhaleej' newspaper on Sunday.

“We urge all companies which have not paid their fines to do so before the end of January to avoid an accumulation of fines…a delay of one month in paying fines will result in a Dh1,000 penalty.”

Suwaidi said the new system complemented a decision by the ministry to cut fees for change of sponsorship in the private sector.

Under a new cabinet decision, a penalty of Dh2,000 has been set for labour cards which expired before 2005 and Dh5,000 for cards expiring between 2006 and 2010. Thedecision set a penalty of Dh1,000 a month for defaulters on payment of fines.

“This means the ministry is supporting the private sector institutions with around Dh1 billion as our existing claims on them are around Dh250 million while previous claims were Dh1,250 million,” Suwaidi said. “These measures are finally intended to serve the interests of the private sector establishments and improve their position by easing the financial burden on them.”

　

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