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UAE
Violations of Human Rights
 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The law does not authorize workers to form or join unions, and no unions existed. Professional organizations, such as a lawyers' association, existed; however, they had to receive government approval for international affiliation.
The law does not explicitly prohibit strikes by private sector workers, but it allows an employer to suspend an employee for temporarily striking. In addition the government may cancel the work permit of and deport any foreign worker absent from work for more than seven days without a valid reason. The individual would be banned from working in the country for one year.
The government forbids strikes by public sector employees, citing national security. Public sector employees may file an administrative grievance or a case in the civil courts to address a labor-related dispute or grievance; however, there was no evidence of any such grievances or cases.
The government did not generally punish workers for nonviolent protests in response to nonpayment of wages by employers. However, during the year the government took measures to break up nonviolent protests.
Approximately 10,000 workers participated in at least seven strikes during the year. Most grievances were related to unpaid wages and hazardous or abusive working conditions.
For example, on February 11, more than 300 workers demonstrated in Ajman against their Dubai-based employer over unpaid salaries. The workers marched from their residences in Ajman to the Dubai labor office, stopping in Sharjah to file a case against their employer.
The workers complained that they had not been paid in four months and that their living conditions were unsuitable. Shajrah police dispersed the strike peacefully and sent the workers back to Ajman. The MOL summoned the employer, who agreed to resolve the dispute.
On July 7, approximately 3,000 workers in Ras Al-Khaimah protested salary levels. The strike turned violent as workers burned cars and buses. The MOL could not intervene in this contractual dispute because the company operated in a free trade zone (FTZ) in the emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah.
The workers were arrested and detained by the police for approximately two weeks. The police imprisoned eight persons who allegedly instigated the incident. The instigators will be deported at the end of their sentence. At year's end there was no information on the length of their sentence.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
Employees covered by the labor law--which excludes domestic, agricultural, and government workers--may file collective employment dispute complaints in Arabic with the MOL, which serves as mediator between the parties.
Unresolved disputes may be filed with the labor court system and forwarded to the Conciliation Council. In practice most cases were resolved through direct mediation. The government granted some professional associations with mostly citizen membership a limited ability to raise work-related issues to petition the government for redress and to file grievances with the government.
Foreign workers may belong to these associations; however, they do not have voting rights and cannot serve on the boards of the organizations.
Businesses in the FTZs are not subject to labor statutes. The MOL does not regulate the FTZs; instead, each FTZ maintained its own labor department. Unions and strikes are not allowed in any FTZs.
Violations of Human Rights
The government did not generally permit organizations to focus on political issues.However, two recognized local human rights organizations existed: the quasi-independent EHRA--which focused on human rights issues and complaints such as labor rights, stateless persons' rights, and prisoners' well-being and humane treatment--and the government-subsidized Jurists' Association Human Rights Committee--which focused on human rights education and conducted seminars and symposia subject to government approval.
Although it was headed by a government prosecutor, the EHRA generally operated without government interference, apart from the many requirements faced by all associations in the country. However, lack of government interference did not imply full cooperation. For example Ministry of Interior officials refused to meet with EHRA members concerning the treatment of prisoners and conditions in detention facilities.
The government did not allow international human rights NGOs to be based in the country but allowed representatives to visit on a limited basis. There were no transparent standards governing visitation from international NGO representatives.
The government generally cooperated with other international organizations, including the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and UNHCR. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs maintained an office in the country.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The law prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were instances of forced and compulsory labor affecting some adults, noncitizens in particular.
Some employment agents continued to bring numerous foreign workers to the country to work under forced or compulsory conditions, and there continued to be reports of worker suicides.
Some women were brought to the country under false promises of legitimate employment and forced into prostitution. Low-paid unskilled and semiskilled workers were also victims of contract switching, which occurred when a worker was offered a certain position but received a visa labor card for a different position.
Lack of payment to employees, especially foreign workers, for extended periods of time was common. On June 1, to reduce the problem of unpaid wages, the MOL and the Central Bank signed a memorandum of understanding that facilitated direct deposits of laborers' salaries; however, the system had not taken effect at year's end.
Some domestic and agricultural workers were subject to de facto compulsory labor. Employers routinely held employees' passports, severely restricting their freedom of movement.
There were increasing incidents of employees being prevented from changing positions because their contracts stipulated that they were banned from working for a "competitor" for six months after their original employment ended; the only way to overcome the six-month ban was to seek a letter of "no objection" from the original employer.
However, some employers, as retribution, refused to sign such letters. The MOL made exceptions during the year by not requiring letters of "no objection" if the employee had completed three years in the original position or if the employer had withheld salary.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment
The law prohibits employment of persons younger than 15 and has special provisions for employing persons 15 to 18 years of age, including expatriate children 16 or older.
The MOL is responsible for enforcing these regulations and generally enforced them effectively. However, there were rare reports of foreign children who came to the country under their parents' work permits and subsequently were pressured to work.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
There is no minimum wage, leaving much of the workforce without sufficient compensation for more than a minimal subsistence.
Salaries, which depend on the occupation and employer, were estimated to range upward from 400 dirhams (approximately $110) per month for domestic or agricultural workers and from 600 dirhams ($164) per month for construction workers. Highly skilled and white-collar employees generally received higher salaries.
According to the labor law, the workday is eight hours, and the workweek six days; however, these standards were not enforced. There were laws regulating minimum rest periods and hours worked, which varied depending on nature of work.
There was no legal provision requiring overtime pay, nor was there a prohibition on excessive compulsory overtime. However, domestic workers are under the jurisdiction of the MOI and not regulated by the current labor laws. The unregulated conditions of domestic workers left them vulnerable to long work days and underpayment.
The law requires that employers provide employees with a safe work and living environment; however, despite recent increases in the number of MOL inspectors, the government did not uniformly enforce health and safety standards.
At year's end there were 48 safety and health inspectors. The MOL also employed language interpreters to assist foreign workers in understanding employment guidelines.
Despite efforts to improve housing facilities, some low-skilled and foreign employees continued to face substandard living conditions, including overcrowded apartments or lodging in unsafe and unhygienic "labor camps," which sometimes lacked electricity, potable water, and adequate cooking and bathing facilities. Construction of newer worker accommodations is ongoing.
On August 26, a fire killed 11 workers in a labor housing unit in Dubai. In response, the Dubai government sent warning notices to contractors to vacate 422 labor housing units for noncompliance with safety conditions.
The MOL requires a break from 12:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. for most outdoor laborers during July and August, the hottest months of the year; however, oil sector and asphalt and cement companies, among others, were not required to give their employees this midday break, putting workers at risk for heat exhaustion.
Domestic workers were routinely subject to physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. On June 5, a Fujairah court imposed a fine of 4,000 dirhams (approximately $1,100) against a woman accused of beating her maids and breaking their bones.
Workers' jobs were not protected if they removed themselves from what they considered unsafe working conditions; however, all workers have the right to lodge labor-related grievances.
During the year the press reported a number of cases of workers who were injured or killed on job sites due to inadequate safety measures. Although the law requires the government to track job-related injuries and deaths, in practice the government registers the cases but does not necessarily follow up on them.
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