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Saturday, December 8, 2012

Know More About The Recent Changes In UAE Labour Laws

To assist accommodate the present shifts in the global market and to help in recovering Dubai's and the UAE's as a whole, economies, the Ministry of Labour has issued numerous Ministerial Decrees, changing the UAE Labour Laws. The goal to these modifications is to tackle the free movement of expatriates in the region and to make sure that their rights are a lot more severely upheld.

One of the new modifications relates to the Wage Protection System that was established over the course of 2009-2010. In the event of non payment of salary all personnel of private sector companies have the right to call either the Ministry of Labour's toll free number to anomalously lodge a complaint against their employer for unpaid salary or to report an online application with their labour card, direct to the Offices of Wage Protection. The Offices of Wage Protection will conduct an investigation into the establishment and why salaries have not been paid.

As from January 2011 all skilled and professional workers will be exempt from the requirement of getting a No Objection Certificate ("NOC") from their employer to allow them to transfer their sponsorship and work permit. All skilled workers will be from January 2011 exempt from the six month labour prohibition. All other non-skilled workers would be required to complete 2 years of employment before they to would be able to also change employer freely, without the requirement of a NOC. These changes must exponentially increase the movement of the skilled work force but will still prohibit those without the required education certificates. The changes come in conjunction to changes in fees for work permits and the reduction in length for which a work permit would be valid from three years to two years.

The above should not be confused however, with the twelve month employment prohibition which will still have effective, irrelevant of length of service or a NOC. This ban is placed on employees who violate their employment contract, such as leave a fixed term contract during its term.

These changes are necessary to make sure that the labour market has the chance to spread their skills as required and to not reprimand employees who hope to move from companies whereby their treatment is far from perfect.

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Harassment: Resolving Conflict

Harassment in the workplace can be described as actions directed at an individual, or group of individuals, which results in an intimidating, difficult and humiliating environment to work in for the victim. It's basically understood to be unwanted comments, conduct or gestures that are derisive, offensive, threatening, humiliating, hateful or demeaning. It could be a recurring or one-off event but it is so notable that it negatively affects an individual's performance, contribution or work environment. It can also include physical, debasing behaviour, exploitation of power, isolation, and discrimination, sexual and racial. The concept of bullying is basically continuous behaviour towards an individual that is deliberately intimidating, humiliating and undermining but is not exactly unlawful.

The act of harassing can be subtle or blatant and will often involve undesirable comments and gestures such as the display of offensive material; insults to a person's race, gender, disability or sexual preference; violent or threatening conduct, intrusive questioning about a person's personal life; offensive communications such as emails or phone calls, exclusion from normal workplace interactions; unwarranted degrading comments or evaluations of workplace performance. Considering the above, it is important to note that it does not involve legitimate negative assessments of an employee's work performance if these are communicated in a suitable manner. Bullying in the workplace does not have to be something that occurs frequently over a long period of time, it can happen just once for it to be considered harassment and unacceptable.

If you are experiencing harassment there are several things you can do to deal with the situation appropriately. If you do not feel confident enough to approach the person responsible and ask them to stop their negative behaviour you can make a written complaint to either your manager or the offender's manager. Make sure you save a copy of the complaint no matter how small or unimportant you think the incident is. Accurately described accounts of all exchanges or relations should be recorded for future reference. If you belong to a union, your representative should be contacted as unions usually have harassment policies and may be able to give you support and legal assistance. Your employer should also have harassment procedures in place to deal with potential cases and it is advisable to become familiar with these guidelines. If you struggle to resolve the complaint, you and your employer can participate in a mediation process that is monitored by a third party who is familiar with employment relations problems.

Sloppy Job Titles and Compliance With the FLSA

Job Analysis Very few large employers have a job title/job code system that's 100% accurate and smaller organizations may not be aware of the need for this under the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the law that covers how exempt and non-exempt employees should be treated by the organization for overtime and other employment conditions. Accurate job titling means that there's a suitable job code (with a job description) for every type of position, and every person/position is properly titled. Mis-titling can lead to mis-classification under the FLSA, and confusion when trying to analyze jobs.

Effective job analysis is the key to an effective and defensible FLSA review. Under the FLSA, positions, not jobs, must be classified accurately. A position represents a single "box" on the organization chart normally filled by a single incumbent, while a job refers to a common set of duties performed by one or more incumbents in the organization. Job analysis refers to the process of studying a job to identify "content", i.e. duties and responsibilities of a job.

In an FLSA classification review, you are seeking specific information about jobs that relate to the various exemption tests. For example, for any exemption test, you must identify the "primary duty" of the job. Since primary duty refers to several factors, including percentage of time spent, relative importance of duties, freedom from supervision, and pay relationships, it's important to collect detailed information to determine the primary duty of the job.

In many companies, there are hundreds of active job classifications and it is not practical to test them all under the FLSA rules. So here is today's Daily HR Tip:

Prioritize the jobs for review under the FLSA using the following criteria:

Jobs with both exempt and nonexempt employees (non-exempts may be at entry level)Entry-level and lower-level exempt jobs Jobs in business areas or families that have undergone significant organizational change Exempt jobs that have the title "assistant manager" or "team leader" or "supervisor" Jobs receiving attention from the Department of Labor, the courts, or the media Known "tricky" jobs for which exemption may be more difficult to establish (e.g. pilots, paralegals, IT tech support, etc.) High-headcount exempt jobs Jobs involving long work hours High-level nonexempt jobs

Proper FLSA classification of jobs is important to ensure that employees are treated fairly and legally and that employers avoid unnecessary penalties, which, if audited, can include prison time for repeat offenders!

Children and Women Labor Law

Recently I visited a packaging factory which was owned by one of my friend's father. They manufacture corrugated boxes (carton) with labor intensive processes. The formation of corrugated box includes many processes starting from the loading of huge paper reels on the corrugation machine, cutting and creasing, pasting, slotting, printing and ending with the stitching and bundling of the carton.

When I went to the manufacturing area of that company I was not surprised watching old women stitching and bundling the carton whereas small children transporting the corrugated boxes to the ware house and cleaning the waste of manufacturing area. When I asked the reason for hiring old women and such children for these tasks the owner of that company told me that due to the intense competition and increasing oil/gas and electricity prices it's very difficult to survive so to reduce their manufacturing cost they have to opt for such options.

If we talk regarding what Pakistani government has laid rules for the right of the labor in Pakistan we will come across different labor laws such as article 11 which states that child labor is prohibited and article 37(e) states that women should not be employed for the job which is not in accordance to their sex and age.

When I asked the owner of that company that is he not afraid if government comes to know that he is violating the labor law. He replied while smiling, afraid no way. Such activities are so common in Pakistan no one even give heed about this, everyone is just busy in earning in one way and another. Such statement from the owner tells us that the agencies which are protecting the labor laws in Pakistan are very inefficient and corrupt. If someone is caught, they very easily escape by bribing the officers.

Such exploitation of labor especially little children is not in favor of the country as they are the merely future of that nation. If they will be brought into the labor work from their childhood then who will go to schools and become future doctors, engineers and entrepreneur. Governments need to look after such activities and ensure that the department which has been kept responsible to ensure no such activities occur is working efficiently and effectively. Child labor results in the wastage of natural talent as these children if given opportunity to study can excel in different fields instead of just picking the garbage and doing donkey work.

Workers Comp Lawyers

Workers comp cases are trickier than most others. Every commercial and industrial business that has more than three employees must have workers compensation insurance. That system is covered by the Industrial Commission. That is a state agency that makes sure everyone is playing by the rules. That means you may be entitled to your benefits from your workers compensation if you are injured on the job. It must be proven before you get to actually have the benefits. There is a process you must go through.

When injured on the job, you must tell your boss by giving him a written notice. The notice should be written within 30 days, but you have two years to actually file it. After the two years is over, so is your ability to file the claim.

Generally, when an employee is injured on the job, workers compensation is the only way to fix it. That is because in rare occasions injured employees are not entitled to any other avenues of compensation. It is easy to get workers comp because whether it is the employers fault or employees fault lawyers will most times get the employee compensated. It really doesn't matter who it is that is at fault. A worker being hurt on the job is serious whether it's negligence from the employee or employer. Employers used to even be covered by contributory negligence which blocks liability. When the worker wins, he receives paid medical bills from the insurance company which also includes prescriptions. The insurance company can contact the medical providers you are already seeing although you may put in a request for change.

The worker will receive disability benefits from the insurance company. Disability payments are two thirds of the employees gross weekly wage. Workers comp payments are also non taxable. If it is more than a seven day period then the insurance company will start paying per day every day until the employee is back to work as long as they have a written note from their doctor saying they can't work. The worker will not get the payment of the first seven days until 21 days have passed without going back to work. Permanent partial disability will kick in if a worker is permanently disabled. Only then is the worker entitled to lifetime benefits including medical expenses and disability payments. Workers compensation although will get you a fraction of your pay, does not work the same as other injury claims. You will not receive pain and suffering.

Employment Mediation: Identifying Mutual Solutions

Employment mediation is a controlled procedure whereby a qualified, experienced and independent mediator facilitates communication between parties who are experiencing an employment relationship problem. The role of the professional mediator is to assist the parties with finding an amicable resolution to a potentially harmful business situation. Mutually agreed solutions can result in improved working relationships and productivity levels; when applicable, the negotiation of an exit package when the parties decide that their relationship cannot continue; or the settlement of a dispute that involved potential litigation.

Employment mediation is becoming increasingly commonplace in the work environment and has established itself as the favoured method to address conflict resolutions. With the economy in recession, there has been an increase in unemployment and in the difficulty of finding alternative employment. As a result, experienced employment mediation consultants are experiencing unprecedented demand for their services. Further, Employment legislation is constantly being developed and amended to the point where has become unrealistic for many businesses to keep abreast of the regulatory requirements governing employment relationships. By encouraging positive and constructive communication channels, employment mediation professionals are able to resolve conflicts while maintaining professional and productive working relationships.

The benefits of utilsing the services of employment mediators are numerous; with the government funding the mediation service, it is inexpensive. Because mediators can enter the process of mediation at any stage of the resolution process, they provide the flexibility to accommodate any organisation's business model and operational requirements. Compared with traditional Courts, employment mediation provides an extremely cost effective manner of conflict resolution. It empowers the parties to take control of the mediation process and deal with problems "in-house". Sometimes businesses experience improvement in staff morale and productivity. Basing mediation on mutually beneficial outcomes, professional employment mediation can provide your business with the edge in an increasingly competitive marketplace; where the quality and productivity of employees is often the key difference in providing the competitive edge.

However, not all employment mediation professionals and agencies are created equally. When using private mediators for employment mediation services ensure they have the relevant expertise and experience to deliver the workplace solutions required. Exceptional interpersonal communication and negotiation skills are essential. The ability to empathise with all parties in a constructive and impartial manner, combined with a comprehensive knowledge of employment law distinguish those mediation services that are excellent from those that are average. The time spent finding a reputable mediator will make all the difference.