Happiness Card for employees

Workers in dispute and unable to withdraw salaries can use it to cover basic expenses

More and more workers are heading to courts to claim their rights, thanks to extensive awareness among labourers in Abu Dhabi, officials said yesterday.

The workers who are involved in disputes with their employers and are unable to draw their salaries will be given a ‘Happiness Card’, which will cover their expenses including food and transportation till the case is settled by courts. The card will be granted by the courts, officials said.

The cases of workers at the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department have continued to rise each year. The court attributed the significant rise to the awareness among workers about their rights and privileges. As many as 20,543 workers’ cases were handled by the courts of Abu Dhabi this year until November 30, which included 8,462 minor cases, 932 major, 588 urgent matters, 3,670 appeal claims and 6,900 execution matters.

Whereas in 2017, it received 17,887 workers’ cases including 9,828 minor, 722 major and 6,500 group cases.

The department held a forum yesterday to highlight the rules and regulations pertaining workers’ rights and its settlements at the courts.

Explaining the increase in cases, Chief Justice of Abu Dhabi Labour Court, Judge Abdullah Faris Ali Al Nuaimi said, “The evident increase in cases demonstrates that there is a growing awareness and confidence that the UAE workforce has in the labour court.”

But he added that most of these cases were the minor cases which were resolved in a day.

“We work in coordination with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation and One Day court of Abu Dhabi to resolve the cases. Many cases are resolved by the mobile courts of the department, the chief justice said.