Mandatory Emiratisation in UAE: 3,000 companies risk getting Dh84,000 fine per Emirati not employed by end of 2023
Image Credit: Sajila Saseendran/Gulf News
Dubai: Around 3,000 private companies in the UAE risk getting Dh84,000 fine per Emirati not employed by the end of 2023, it was revealed on Thursday.
Companies with 50 skilled employees or more are required to have four per cent Emiratis in their workforce by the end of this year as against the two per cent target set last year.
Those who missed the 2022 target would see the annual fine of Dh72,000 per each Emirati not hired getting hiked to Dh84,0000 if they fail again to meet the new target for 2023, the UAE’s Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation, Dr. Abdulrahman Abdulmannan Al Awar, said at a press conference in Dubai.
“The [Emiratisation] policy is very reasonable,” he said. “The policy is targeting only companies who have 50 and more staff and we target two per cent of their skilled employees. So, if you have 1000 employees, you are within the target. And if you have only 100 of them skilled and 900 non-skilled, your target is to employ just two nationals,” he explained.
“It’s very reasonable. In 2022, we were very happy to see that our policy was reasonable and it was achievable. The market had grown significantly in 2022 and the UAE labour market will continue to grow,” he pointed out.
The minister revealed that the pool of companies required to meet the Emiratisation target comprised around 13,000 companies.
“This number is dynamic, because there are companies who get in or out [of the pool] depending on the formula. By the end of last year, there were more than 9000 companies who achieved the target for the year.”
Al Awar said more than 7,000 companies had hired Emiratis for the first time.
“And there were about 1,000 companies who partially achieved the target. Then there were about 2900 or so companies who completely failed to achieve the target.”
The value of the monthly penalties increases progressively at a rate of Dh1,000 annually until 2026, by which companies are required to achieve up to 10 per cent growth rate in their Emiratisation targets
Hence, the escalation of annual fine from Dh72,000 to Dh84,000) for each Emirati not employed will be applicable to these companies if they continue to meet the target this year as well, the minister explained.
Al Awar added that the ministry would hold a special ceremony to honour the companies that excelled in implementing the Emiratisation targets.
On Wednesday, it was announced that the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) had issued fines amounting to Dh400 million against private companies that failed to meet Emiratisation targets of 2022. As many as 9,293 companies achieved their targets for 2022 by employing two per cent Emiratis in skilled roles, it was announced.
