To ensure employment in the country, the authorities set up the Emiratisation program for the private sector. This program has already proven its success and MOHRE has made a change to make it more efficient. In this article, we will show you what this change refers to and other details of the program. Let us see:
1. What is the Emiratisation law about?
2. We explain what the Emiratisation UAE requirements are
3. The criteria of skilled workers for UAE Emiratisation
4. What are the penalties for non-compliance?
5. Meet Emiratisation with our help
1. What is the Emiratisation law about?
UAE Emiratisation is a rule applied by the authorities to rise the participation of national workers in the private sector. This law was implemented by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) by Ministerial Decision № 279 of 2022. In this case, the law came into effect on January 1, 2023, and is mandatory for the private sector.
Nafis program, which is the Human Resources Competitiveness Council of the UAE create initiatives to upsurge this process. This council hopes to increase the competitiveness of these workers and plans to place 75,000 citizens in the private sector in 5 years. Also, it founds initiatives to empower local employees and companies that want to attract local talent.
2. We explain what the Emiratisation UAE requirements are
Emiratisation rule states that private sector companies must have 2% skilled Emirati workers at the end of each year. However, MOHRE modified this rule to achieve the goals of the process more efficiently. Therefore, companies must increase the percentage of qualified citizens by 1% every 6 months.
In this case, it applies to companies with at least 50 workers, which is in line with Cabinet Resolution No. 5/19 for 2022. Moreover, Dr. Abdulrahman Al Awar, Minister of MOHRE, stated that the objective of the measure is to keep the employment and retention rates of Emiratis. Also, he highlighted that they saw a 70% increase in Emirati citizens in the said sector comparing the years 2021 and 2022.
The new rules determine that, by June 2023, private companies with 50 or more employees must have 1% Emirati workers. Also, they must maintain compliance with 2% of these workers by the end of the year. Thus, to better exemplify this, we will show you an example of the number of local workers according to their number of employees:
- At least 1 Emirati worker for companies with between 1 and 50 workers.
- 2 Emirati workers minimum for companies with between 51 and 100 workers.
- 3 Emirati workers minimum for companies with between 101 and 150 workers.
In other words, for every 50 workers you must have at least 1 qualified Emirati worker to comply with the rule.
3. The criteria of skilled workers for UAE Emiratisation
Since the Emiratisation UAE process involves skilled workers, we will show you what this aspect refers to. These workers are those who belong to any of the next categories:
- Legislators, managers, and company executives.
- Professionals in scientific, technical, and humanitarian fields.
- Technicians in the above fields.
- Writing professionals.
- Service and sales workers.
Likewise, apart from the previous categories, it includes employees who meet the following features:
- Workers who have a high school certificate, its equivalent, or higher.
- Employees with certificates endorsed by the corresponding authorities.
- Workers with a monthly salary not less than AED 4,000.
4. What are the penalties for non-compliance?
If a business does not meet the Emiratisation UAE requirements, it will receive sanctions according to the offenses:
- A fine of AED 6,000 per month for each Emirati worker the company has not hired according to the number of workers. In addition, these fines will start to apply from January 1, 2023, and will increase every year. Likewise, if the business does not pay the fines, it could receive a suspension of work permit applications.
- If the company fails to comply with the standard for 2 consecutive years, it will be downgraded to the third category of the classification law.
The authorities have also established strict controls to monitor companies and ensure that they comply with the rules. Thus, non-compliance has financial penalties and can even affect the status of the company.
5. Meet Emiratisation with our help
If you want to start your company in the UAE, we help you to comply with the UAE Emiratisation process. Thus, to count on our assistance, call us at +971 43 316 688 or write to contact@kinzahr.com.
