Labour disputes decrease by 42% in Abu Dhabi this year
The awareness campaign launched this year has achieved its objectives, which are aimed to promote a legal culture among workers.” Yousef Saeed Al Abri, undersecretary, ADJD
abu dhabi — Labour disputes in Abu Dhabi have decreased by 42 per cent this year compared to the previous year, according to authorities.
The latest figures released on Tuesday by the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD) have shown that the number of complaints and labour cases handled by the Abu Dhabi public prosecution have dropped to 9,979 cases in 2018 from 16,897 cases in 2017.
The significant decrease is attributed to the increased awareness among workers about their rights, duties and obligations guaranteed by the UAE laws.
The judicial authorities said that the number of workers who participated in the awareness campaigns has increased by 35 per cent, beyond the target set for the year 2018. The number of participants, according to the figures, rose from 100,000 to 135,000 workers, spread over 19 labour villages in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Dhafrah regions.
Yousef Saeed Al Abri, undersecretary of the ADJD, said: “This year’s awareness campaign has achieved its objectives, which are aimed to promote a legal culture among workers.
“The campaign is based on the directives of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chairman of the Judicial Department, to achieve the strategic priority of contributing to maintaining security through active participation of all members of the community.”
The department said it has so far organised 24 awareness lectures explaining the UAE labour law, rights and duties of the workers, the procedure to open a labour case as well as the prohibitions that must be avoided so as not to fall under legal liability, and safety and security in workers’ accommodations.
Campaign to cover all labour villages
Ahmed Al Marzouqi, head of the ADJD labour awareness committee, has unveiled a plan to expand the geographical scope of the committee’s work across all the workers’ villages in the emirate, which will involve workers as well as employers.
He added: “Awareness films in several languages will be screened; and the best workers’ village and best performing worker, including female worker, at the level of each village will be honoured.
“The awareness lectures conducted in five languages, including Arabic, English, Urdu, Pashto and Bengali, shed light on the most important legal articles guaranteeing labours’ rights in the UAE. Besides, it has covered requests for legal advice,
Effective awareness campaigns
When awareness campaigns stimulate self-mobilisation and action, they are deemed successful. A dip in labour disputes and complaints shows that strategies of effective communication helped reach the desired outcome as the messages to workers were to the point, focusing not just on what can be gained but also on what can be lost if rules were not adhered to. centred mainly on how to calculate end of service gratuity and leave balance, and complaints submission mechanism.”