Tough action over salary delays
This will of course ensure that workers’ wages are paid within 10 days of the due date.
abu dhabi — From October this year, companies which do not pay wages to employees even 10 days after the due date will have to face punitive actions, according to a new decree issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation.
The decree, which will be effective from October 2016, aims to ensure employees’ wages are fully paid within a period not exceeding 10 days from the due date.
According to the decree, the ministry will neither process any transactions nor deal with the owners of the companies that are not registered with the Wage Protection System (WPS) until they register in the system.
Saqr bin Ghobash Saeed Ghobash, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation, pointed out that companies employing over 100 workers must pay wages within a period not exceeding 10 days. If they fail, the ministry will stop issuing them any additional work permits starting from the 16th day from the date of delay.
“Two main things should be considered in this matter, firstly, salary delays occur usually if the company fails to pay wages a month from the due date, and the second, which refers to completely refraining wages, starts after entering into the second month. However, the decree shall refer to each case in a different matter,” he said.
The decree states, if a company delays wages a month from the due date, which means the company has entered into the refrainment phase, the ministry will inform the judicial authorities and other related regulators to take all necessary punitive measures against it, causing a complete strike against the other companies owned by the same employer, along with prohibiting him from registering any new company.
If a company continues to delay wages of its employees, the ministry will take needed measures to use the bank guarantee, in addition to downgrading the company to the third category and allow the workers to move to other companies.
“If the company fails to pay wages for 60 days from the due date, then penalties will be imposed, not forgetting the punishments that had been already slapped for failing to pay wages a month from the due date,” Ghobash added.
A fine of Dh5,000 per worker’s delayed wage will be imposed which could go up to a maximum of Dh50,000 in cases that include multiple workers complaining about delayed wages for over 60 days.
The ministry will lift the ban of violating companies and grant them the ability to apply for new work permits only if they immediately pay delayed wages during the first month of delay, while the ban lasts for 60 days after payment of wages, for companies that failed to pay wages for more than two months. The decree reiterates that if the company often refrains from paying salaries, the ban duration doubles after paying the wages.
Additionally, if the ministry came across any sorts of salary delays or violations by companies that employ less than 100 workers, the current regulations will apply, from work permits ban to fines and public trial referral, if the company fails to pay the money within 60 days.