NEWS FROM THE U.A.E.
Excerpts from UAE Dailies

Labour ministry to target 10,000 secretarial posts
 

Abu Dhabi: 2 July: Only half of foreign secretaries may be made redundant as the labour ministry may target 10,000 secretarial jobs, says the minister of labour.

Dr Ali Bin Abdullah Al Ka'abi told Gulf News, it would be "great" if the decision to replace foreign human resources managers and secretaries with UAE nationals creates 10,000 jobs.

Private companies were asked to recruit UAE nationals as human resources and personnel managers and secretaries, which will create 21,536 jobs, including 671 managers.

Those businesses, excluding those in the free zones, are being given 18 months to replace their existing human resources managers with UAE nationals, while no more work permits for secretaries will be issued with immediate effect, according to two decisions signed by Al Ka'abi on June 24.

Al Ka'abi said his first priority was to find appropriate work for 33,000 unemployed UAE nationals registered with Tanmia, the National Human Resources Development and Employment Authority, and the 15,000 new university graduates entering the job market every year.

Though the figure may be considered fairly accurate, unemployed UAE nationals not registered with Tanmia are not included. The minister said he would not know the complete number until figures of the national census are released.

He said even though 300,000 vacancies were created every year, private companies failed to hire just 10,000 UAE nationals. Last year, around 700,000 work permits were issued, he said.

Ahmad Kajoor, assistant undersecretary of the ministry, said though he is not a policy maker he would call the 10,000 jobs "an achievement we would all celebrate."

On how the ministry would implement the decision, Kajoor said all applications for secretarial posts will be studied carefully "but we will not target jobs in small businesses."

"Our goal is to recruit UAE nationals in jobs which offer good salaries and career advancement."

He said that out of 3,000 foreign government relation officers, the ministry has replaced around 1,300 with UAE nationals.

Under the decision, secretaries who hold valid labour cards and are recruited by virtue of job contracts will remain in their jobs until the end of their limited-period contracts or otherwise until the end of the labour cards, "whichever is earlier".

Neither the job contracts nor the labour cards of secretaries will be renewed.

Companies will not be allowed to transfer sponsorship of secretaries and they will not be issued temporary or part-time work permits or mission permits. Secretaries sponsored by their husbands or parents will no longer be issued labour cards.

The decision says that if the UAE nationals are not paid as per the minimum monthly-wages criteria set Dh5,000 for post-secondary school certificate holders, Dh4,000 for secondary school certificate holders and Dh3,000 for those below secondary school education the private companies employing them will not meet the quota criteria.

GULF NEWS

Indian consulate steps up security to combat pickpockets

Dubai: 2 July: Plainclothes security men have been put on surveillance duty at the Indian consulate to guard against pickpockets.

The step comes after visitors to the consulate reported pickpockets were active.

The incidents have prompted the consulate to upgrade its current CCTV system which does not have a digital recording facility.

The plainclothes men are advised to check on anyone loitering in the premises, seemingly without a purpose.

"There have been a couple of cases of pickpockets that have been brought to our notice. We make sure the individual registers an official complaint with the police. The consulate is getting an estimated 20 to 24 new cameras, these will be installed in areas such as the counters, the enquiry department and the emergency certificates section where relatively large numbers of people are expected," said B.S. Mubarak, labour consul.

Mubarak said the consulate was witnessing a surge in visitors due to the holiday season.

"Visitors are also instructed to take care of their belongings by the security men at the consulate gates," added Mubarak.

Indian expatriates who spoke to Gulf News regarding incidents of pickpockets at the consulate said the crowds that usually gathered at the consulate gates in the afternoon served as a good opportunity for pickpockets.

"People should be asked to fall in line instead of just creating pandemonium. Women are even subjected to men making remarks about them. I have made the security men at the consulate aware of it but so far nothing has been done," said Nalini Dasgupta a Dubai-based resident.

Echoing similar sentiments Sardar Trilok Singh a businessman who visited the consulate said, "The crowd at the consulate especially during the morning is large and it is about time the authorities recruited more security guards at the premises. I have heard of the pickpocket incidents and have been cautious since."

Mohanish Srivastava, a Dubai-based accountant, said a proper queuing system should be imposed at various counters to ensure against pickpockets.

"I am sure that pickpockets are at work in the counter area as people do not appear to use the queuing system. Despite seating being made available you often come across more than one person at the counters," he said.

In demand
2,500 visitors a day

On any given day about 2,500 people visit the consulate, of which an estimated 700 are passport applicants.

Another 600 come for attestation purposes while the remaining approach the mission for miscellaneous services.

 
GULF NEWS

More than 10,000 employees covered

Abu Dhabi: 2 July: Daman, the national health insurance provider, has started providing health insurance cards to employees of government and semi-government organisations and private companies with more than 1,000 employees.

Phase 1 of the national health insurance scheme began on Saturday in Abu Dhabi.

A representative from Daman said that as of Wednesday, the health insurance provider had issued more than 10,000 health insurance cards and the company has the capacity to produce 4,000 cards in a day.

Daman is working with 250 companies to apply the national health insurance scheme and the representative stated that 40 per cent of those organisations are private and non-governmental and 60 per cent are governmental and semi-governmental.

The existing health card system is still in effect, with the cards remaining valid until their expiration date.

The Daman representative added that until a person is granted the new health insurance card, they are not eligible for the health insurance plan.

The General Authority for Health Services (GAHS) in Abu Dhabi will penalise companies that do not abide by the health insurance law as decreed by the Executive Council. A maximum fine of Dh20,000 will be imposed on violators of the law.

GULF NEWS

Now pay your traffic fines in any emirate

ABU DHABI — 2 July: Motorists can now pay traffic fines and get other traffic-related documentation transacted at any traffic department in the country regardless of the licence-issuing Emirate. In this respect, a pilot project connecting all traffic departments in the seven emirates was launched yesterday.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, the director of the Department of Traffic and Patrols in Abu Dhabi, Colonel Ghaith Hassan Al Za'abi, said that the electronic link had lent form to the directives of Minister of Interior Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan who had instructed traffic departments to unify their procedures and to work in unison by employing a unified electronic database.

"The electronic link, which became operational yesterday, is now into its first trial phase. The system will continue to be under observation as we follow up on transactions from across various traffic departments in the country regardless of the place of issue of a vehicle licence or the area in which a violation is committed," said Col. Al Za'abi

"One can pay the fine or can renew both the driving and vehicle licences at any traffic department in the country," he observed adding that the second phase of the project would bring transactions related to technical tests on vehicles and the like under the ambit of the system.

The electronic link, he said, was considered an important step by the Ministry of Interior towards easing procedural backlog and achieving various transactions with minimum of effort and in the least possible time. It was also the ministry's endeavour to implement the e-Government scheme and to effect necessary changes to usher it in, he added.

KHALEEJ TIMES

70 per cent of employees feel they can be bosses instead!

DUBAI — 02 July: More than 70 per cent of employees in the UAE and, perhaps even across the Gulf, are given to thinking that they can do their boss's job. According to the first edition of a new annual survey by Bayt.com, more than 80 per cent of respondents also expect to get a raise this year.

The 2006 Bayt.com Salary and Job Satisfaction Survey provides important insights into labour market conditions in the UAE and the Gulf. According to Mona Ataya, vice-president of marketing, Bayt.com, “Credible research into jobseeker and employer behaviour is a valuable resource in the Middle East, and Bayt.com is one of the few organisations with the data and reach to provide an accurate picture of how the market is evolving in the Arab World.”

A total of 1,641 professionals registered with Bayt.com, the majority based in the UAE and the Gulf, participated in the February survey. The prevailing mood of respondents reflects the optimism of a fast-growing market, but office demands and rising living costs are also taking their toll.

Nearly 75 per cent of employees surveyed expect a promotion this year and 81 per cent expect a raise, with 49 per cent affirming healthy pay increases in the last couple of years. An impressive 71 per cent also think they can successfully fill the shoes of their bosses.

"The general consensus is that companies are improving packages and that salaries are becoming more consistent to catch up with the regional economic boom, which is especially strong in real estate, tourism, hospitality and retail," Ataya said.

Greater business confidence is also translating into more job market activity, according to Ataya, with labour laws starting to allow freer employee movement. Nearly 90 per cent of respondents are considering a job change to take advantage of better pay and conditions, and 52 per cent of those polled are looking to move as soon as possible.

"Switching jobs is no longer unusual in today's aggressive job market. There is more dynamism, and the number of companies entering the market has made it easier for people to move around," Ataya added.

More than half of those surveyed said their employers were looking to hire more staff, but the Bayt.com research also shows that regional working conditions have room for improvement. More than 60 per cent admitted to working more than 50 hours a week, and 72 per cent regularly received work calls and e-mails on weekends. Only 17 per cent said they never worked on their weekends.

A staggering 74 per cent of employees also complained of discrimination based on nationality and, despite changing labour laws, nearly a third expressed the fear that they would receive an employment ban should they resign.

Ataya said, "As the region continues to develop, inevitably, it will start to experience some of the problems found in international markets. The rising cost of living is encouraging more people to find jobs that increase their spending power, and 47 per cent of people in our survey say they struggle to save every month."

While the Gulf remains an attractive place to live and do business, the Bayt.com survey suggests that some of the sheen has been taken off the expatriate's life. More than 60 per cent of those polled said they would return home if they could find a job with similar pay. But in many cases, that is a big 'if', according to Ataya.

"The Bayt.com findings reflect the complexities of a multicultural workplace, and the pressures of a fast-growing economy. The Gulf offers salaries and living standards that exceed many western countries, but expectations are also high and work-related stress is a growing concern. Both employers and employees need to do more to ensure a correct work-life balance to maintain job productivity."

Bayt's Salary and Job Satisfaction Survey will become an annual exercise, and the company plans to investigate country specific research as it continues to expand. February's survey received contributions from 1,641 professional jobseekers that answered a detailed e-mail questionnaire. Using Bayt.com's proprietary software respondents were profiled according to age, gender, job position, nationality and country of residence.

Around 71 per cent of those surveyed are in management and mid-career job positions. Nearly 47 per cent reside in the UAE, and more than 90 per cent are based in the Gulf. Professionals living and working in Saudi Arabia make up around 32 per cent of the total respondents. Jobseekers from Africa, the Levant, the Asian subcontinent, and CIS countries also contributed to the research.

KHALEEJ TIMES