Khaleej Times

DUBAI— Sep. 25 :The Ministry of Labour is working on a plan to set up a specialist company to recruit skilled and technically-qualified overseas workers which is expected to start functioning next year, according to Dr Ali bin Abdullah Al Ka’abi, Minister of Labour.

He said the name of  the company would be announced by the end of this year and if the experiment succeeds, there will be more than one company working in the same field. “This wil create some sort of competition and  improve quality in performance,' he noted.

Dr Ka’abi said the ministry had received many offers from different agencies in the country in this regard.The winner among the applicants will be declared after studying the submitted offers later.

The ministry is currently studying the terms and conditions for the functioning of the company as well as the conditions governing the recruited workforce and the mechanism to be  implemented .The company will recruit the most skilful workers, he stressed.

The specialist company will focus on bringing in and hiring technically and academically sound workers, thus lessening the  workers’ problems triggered by false promises offered by the overseas recruitment offices in order to siphon off huge amounts of  money from them with a promise of  getting  a job in the UAE, he said.The company will also help in keeping the labor market under control.

The Ministry had completed making arrangements for enforcing the health insurance scheme for workers, and is waiting for  other bodies concerned to finalise their procedures in this regard. Under the insurance scheme the employer will bear the cost of medical treatment of his employees.

It is the establishment, which will pay the expenses of the health security (insurance) and not the employee, he said.

The employer should provide the suitable  means of surveillance to protect his workers from the risks of exposure to injuries and occupational diseases which might occur during work, Dr Ka’abi said.

The insurance will be taken from the fees the establishment pays for its workers to cover their health expenses to enable them to get the medical treatment at government and private hospitals, he said,

He  said it was unlawful for the establishment to force their  workers pay the health insurance costs.

Legal action will be taken against any establishment which is found to have flouted the law and breached the ministry’s decisions, the minister warned.

An informed source at the ministry said the  enforcment of  this measure had become an imperative need after the ministry had discovered that many establishments had  ignored providing the occupational safety measures to their workers,as well as  medical treatment in case they fall sick.

The ministry is also examining the feasibility of issuing a number of orders  to force the establishments to adhere to the prescribed safety standards , the source said.

These measures include  appointment of a medical aid worker in every shift at the factories which work round the clock.