UAE companies employing 50 or more workers must meet their half-yearly Emiratisation target by June 30, authorities said in a reminder on Tuesday.
These firms should have expanded their Emirati workforce by 1 per cent before the deadline, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (Mohre) said.
Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.
Starting July 1, the ministry will monitor companies’ compliance and impose fines.
Private companies in the country are required to increase the percentage of their Emirati workforce by two per cent every year to reach at least 10 per cent by 2026. This target is divided into two: 1 per cent in the first half and another 1 per cent in the second.
So far, more than 97,000 Emiratis are working in more than 20,000 private companies in the country, Mohre said in a recent report.
“(This) underlines the effectiveness of the government’s Emiratisation decisions, policies, and initiatives, most notably the Nafis programme,” said Dr. Abdulrahman Al Awar, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation.
Early this year, Mohre has also started implementing the UAE Cabinet decision to expand the scope of Emiratisation to include firms with 20 to 49 employees. More than 12,000 companies with 20-49 employees, operating across 14 specific economic sectors, are now required to hire at least one Emirati in 2024 and another one in 2025
Inspections are regularly carried out to ensure compliance. Since mid-2022 until May 16 this year, more than 1,300 were caught violating Emiratisation rules.
The total number of Emirati employees in the private sector has grown at a rate of approximately 170 per cent since September 2021, when the government launched the Nafis programme, a federal initiative aimed at increasing the employability of Emiratis in the country’s private sector.
Empowering national human capital
Mohre on Tuesday urged companies to adhere to Emiratisation targets.
“Companies falling short of their Emiratisation targets can benefit from the Nafis platform, which houses data about qualified Emiratis seeking employment across various specialisations and who possess the required competencies,” it added.
Erring companies fined
Last week, Mohre identified 1,379 companies that circumvented the Emiratisation targets, by “unlawfully hiring 2,170 UAE citizens from mid-2022 until May 16″.
“The violating companies were fined, their ratings were downgraded, and some of their files were referred to the Public Prosecution. Financial contributions were also imposed on the violators starting from the date the violation began, and the companies were required to take corrective measures.”