Emiratisation

HR Managers and Secretaries must now be locals
New emiratisation drive
By Samir Salama, Bureau Chief



Abu Dhabi: Private companies must henceforth recruit UAE nationals as human resources managers and secretaries, the labour minister said on Saturday.

"This will create 21,536 jobs including 671 managers," said Dr Ali Bin Abdullah Al Ka'abi.

Private businesses are being given 18 months to replace their existing human resources and personnel managers with UAE nationals, while no more work permits for secretaries will be issued with immediate effect, according to two decisions signed by Al Ka'abi on Saturday.

The minister said foreign secretaries who hold valid labour cards and are recruited by virtue of job contracts will remain in their jobs until the end of their limited-period contracts or otherwise until the end of the labour cards, "whichever is earlier".

This, Dr Al Ka'abi said, implies that neither the job contracts nor the labour cards of secretaries will be renewed.

"Furthermore, private companies will not be allowed to transfer sponsorship of secretaries and they will not be issued temporary or part-time work permits or mission permits. Secretaries sponsored by their husbands or parents will no longer be issued labour cards," he said.

"The labour ministry's new emiratisation plan is meant to strengthen the recruitment of UAE nationals in certain jobs rather than in economic sectors after it [the ministry] found a lack of commitment to the emiratisation quota imposed by the Cabinet in the banking, insurance and trade companies."

Companies which wish to recruit UAE national secretaries should coordinate with Tanmia, the National Human Resources Development and Employment Authority and other human resource development programmes in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.

Emiratisation, he said, will now be on the basis of profession, a policy that has succeeded in private companies with 100 workers or more, which recruit UAE nationals as government relations officers, also known as PROs.

The new decisions are applicable to all private companies, regardless of the number of their workers.

Dr Al Ka'abi said the emiratisation of human resource managers was prompted by foreign human resources managers' "preference to recruit their own nationals."

Calling the 18 months a suitable grace period, Dr Al Ka'abi said Tanmia will provide training to UAE citizens to be recruited in place of foreign human managers.

Passports & Employers

"http://gulfnews.com/nation/Employment/10046487.html">Retaining passports is 'forcible labour'
By Samir Salama, Bureau Chief



Abu Dhabi: A senior official reiterated yesterday that private businesses and government institutions that withhold their employees' passports are breaking the law but admitted it is a common practice.

"The practice of retaining passports in the UAE is illegal in accordance with court rulings," Aref Mirza, director of the legal department at the Ministry of Labour, told Gulf News.

Mirza added that a worker, whose employer withholds his passport and refuses to return it, can quit without a notice period and demand a compensation for dismissal.

"Retaining workers' passports amounts to forcible work in violation of the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) Convention on the Abolition of Forced Labour, to which the UAE is a signatory."

Speaking of the ways of withholding passports, Mirza said they include denying access to the passport, making surrender of the passport a prerequisite for recruitment or forcing a worker to hand over the passport.

On why the Ministry of Labour's inspectors, who evaluate needs of companies for work permits, are counting workers of companies by the number of passports held in the workplace, Mirza said the practice is no longer in place and that his department advised companies that photocopies of passports are enough. "If an inspector wants to check the original passport, he can ask the worker involved to produce it," Mirza said, admitting that the Ministry of Labour "may have violated the law by keeping the passports of its expatriate staff."

Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Interior, has issued directives to all government departments to reinforce the fact that retaining the passport of any resident without a court order violates the law.

"A passport is a personal document that proves the identity of the holder, and the laws stipulate that the bearer must keep his or her passport and present it to the authorities concerned upon their request," Shaikh Saif, who was then undersecretary of the ministry, said in the circular dated December 25, 2002.

Courts have always ruled that passports must be returned to workers.

However, all ministries, including those of Finance and Industry, Interior, Labour and Social Affairs are retaining passports of their expatriate staff.

Some ministries keep passports on instructions of the Civil Service Department, others on directives from the Ministry of Finance and Industry, which demand that passports of cashiers must be retained.

Some employers argued they needed to retain their workers' passports for security reasons or to ensure they did not escape with the company's assets.

Others said the passports of employees are kept in a fireproof filing cabinet and they can recover them at anytime they want.

"Employers who fail to give workers their passports on request are in breach of trust. The offence carries a prison term of up to three years or a fine of up to Dh20,000," a legal consultant said.

Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba of Al Bahr Advocates and Legal Consultants said a passport is given to the employer on trust to complete certain formalities and must be returned to the worker once these formalities are complete.

Passports

Retaining passports is 'forcible labour'
By Samir Salama, Bureau Chief



Abu Dhabi: A senior official reiterated yesterday that private businesses and government institutions that withhold their employees' passports are breaking the law but admitted it is a common practice.

"The practice of retaining passports in the UAE is illegal in accordance with court rulings," Aref Mirza, director of the legal department at the Ministry of Labour, told Gulf News.

Mirza added that a worker, whose employer withholds his passport and refuses to return it, can quit without a notice period and demand a compensation for dismissal.

"Retaining workers' passports amounts to forcible work in violation of the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) Convention on the Abolition of Forced Labour, to which the UAE is a signatory."

Speaking of the ways of withholding passports, Mirza said they include denying access to the passport, making surrender of the passport a prerequisite for recruitment or forcing a worker to hand over the passport.

On why the Ministry of Labour's inspectors, who evaluate needs of companies for work permits, are counting workers of companies by the number of passports held in the workplace, Mirza said the practice is no longer in place and that his department advised companies that photocopies of passports are enough. "If an inspector wants to check the original passport, he can ask the worker involved to produce it," Mirza said, admitting that the Ministry of Labour "may have violated the law by keeping the passports of its expatriate staff."

Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Interior, has issued directives to all government departments to reinforce the fact that retaining the passport of any resident without a court order violates the law.

"A passport is a personal document that proves the identity of the holder, and the laws stipulate that the bearer must keep his or her passport and present it to the authorities concerned upon their request," Shaikh Saif, who was then undersecretary of the ministry, said in the circular dated December 25, 2002.

Courts have always ruled that passports must be returned to workers.

However, all ministries, including those of Finance and Industry, Interior, Labour and Social Affairs are retaining passports of their expatriate staff.

Some ministries keep passports on instructions of the Civil Service Department, others on directives from the Ministry of Finance and Industry, which demand that passports of cashiers must be retained.

Some employers argued they needed to retain their workers' passports for security reasons or to ensure they did not escape with the company's assets.

Others said the passports of employees are kept in a fireproof filing cabinet and they can recover them at anytime they want.

"Employers who fail to give workers their passports on request are in breach of trust. The offence carries a prison term of up to three years or a fine of up to Dh20,000," a legal consultant said.

Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba of Al Bahr Advocates and Legal Consultants said a passport is given to the employer on trust to complete certain formalities and must be returned to the worker once these formalities are complete.

Etisalat's New Logo

Etisalat's new logo shows 'openness and reliability'
Staff Report



Dubai: UAE telecom operator Etisalat has launched a new customer-centric identity.

The launch signals the first major overhaul in its 30-year history, and the new corporate image will position Etisalat as the new global player in the telecom industry.

In its 30th year of operations, Etisalat, which enjoyed a monopoly, has made the UAE one of the most wired nations in the region, with over 4.7 million subscribers, touching a 100 per cent mark, a first in the region. Around 41.5 per cent of the population of the UAE have access to the internet.

Commitment

The new identity was unveiled at an event in Dubai yesterday, which was attended by senior dignitaries and government officials, business leaders and media representatives.

"Etisalat is as vibrant as ever today, as it moves into its fourth decade of operation, and our new identity strengthens our commitment towards achieving new levels of excellence in services offered to our valued customers," said Mohammad Al Qamzi, CEO of Etisalat. "Our intention is to be the best telecom operator not only locally, but also regionally and internationally. And our vision is to be truly global. We have a stated aim of being among the top 20 telecom operators in the world by 2010. We are entering new markets across the world and what you see from today onwards is not just a change of logo, but a significant shift at the core of the Corporation and a new direction for Etisalat as a whole."

Culture shift

The new identity reflects Etisalat's values of transparency, optimism, openness, simplicity and reliability. The green colour in the logo signifies life, growth and renewal.

Green is the national colour of the UAE, and Etisalat has a long and close association with its home nation- the UAE.

"By undergoing a culture shift at every level, we will establish ourselves as a truly global telecom operator, a true ambassador of the UAE success story in the international market." Al Qamzi added.

The Emirates Pearl

$136.2m Emirates Pearl in Abu Dhabi
Posted: Tuesday, May 16, 2006


Dubai

Abu Dhabi's Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) and UAE-based telecommunications firm Atlas Group said they would build a Dh500 million ($136.2 million) resort in the emirate.

The companies said they will build The Emirates Pearl, a hotel and serviced apartment resort, which will include a 240 metre-high tower along Abu Dhabi's coast.
Construction of The Emirates Pearl will begin by summer and is expected to take two years to complete.

'The hotel will be managed by an international hospitality brand name,' said Badrik Melikian, senior vice-president and chief financial officer of Atlas Group, said.
“We are currently in discussion with a number of operators not currently represented in the capital and hope to make an announcement shortly,” he said.

The hotel and serviced apartment resort will be built on the capital’s Khalidiya coast, opposite the prestigious seven-star Emirates Palace Hotel.

The business and leisure resort centres around the 47-storey tower conceptualised in a new generation podium style designed by Austria’s award-winning architect Dennis Lems.

The tower, which houses 352 spacious rooms and suites and 104 luxuriously furnished apartments all with balconies and Gulf views, sits on a 22 metre high, five-storey podium which features a 20-metre high atrium with five restaurants, service centres, offices, a gym, hair salon, spa, meeting rooms, business centre and shops. Serviced apartments are a mix of one, two and three-bedroom units.

The resort will also have a private penthouse complete with helipad and two Presidential suites with their own private entrance, swimming pool, meeting rooms and lounges. Executive floor guests will benefit from an indoor swimming pool, meeting room, gym and café.

“This is a signature development for the South West end of Abu Dhabi Corniche and is another step forward in the capital’s plan to have 25,000 hotel rooms by 2015,” said Mubarak Al Muhairi, director- general of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority and managing director of TDIC.

Designed to bring a new era of contemporary style to the capital, The Emirates Pearl is being built in a twisting glass design and guests will be welcomed at its entrance by a figurehead sculpture of an Arab hunting scene.

“The hotel’s interiors have been conceptualised by MKV Design Ltd of London which has been behind some of the most successful and acclaimed new hotel build and renovations in Europe,” said Ahmed Seddiq Al Mutawaa, president, Atlas Group.
“Inspiration has been taken from the traditional sea, sand and pearling heritage influences of Abu Dhabi resulting in a modernistic approach to Arabian and European interiors.”

The resort will feature an extensive ballroom with two entrances – one of them private accessible from outside the property – and which has been designed as a multi-purpose arena for product launches and substantial social functions. It will also have five restaurants, a rooftop chill-out deck expected to be a popular venue for magnificent sun-set views over the Gulf.

The Emirates Pearl will have basement parking for up to 704 vehicles.
Though expected to receive a sizeable slice of Abu Dhabi’s executive travel business, The Emirates Pearl is also looking to attract the leisure visitor.
“We will have a man-made sun-deck island complete with an exclusive beach club and marina,” said Badrik Melikian.

“The hotel will be managed by an international hospitality brand name. We are currently in discussion with a number of operators not currently represented in the capital and hope to make an announcement shortly.”

TDIC chief operating officer Ahmed Hussein added: “TDIC’s efforts and those of individual properties currently under development by private sector owners means Abu Dhabi is on target to achieve its ambition of creating an all-encompassing hospitality infrastructure to support its growing international tourism proposition.”
Abu Dhabi, which plans to triple the number of tourist visitors to 3 million by 2015, launched last month a $27 billion project to develop a luxury island resort, due to be completed by 2020.

Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) is a public joint stock company established under Law No: 12 of 2005 as decreed by the Abu Dhabi Ruler and UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. TDIC is an independent organisation empowered to manage the tourism investment zones of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), which directs and implements strategy for the expansion of the emirate’s tourism sector.

TDIC will develop the real estate assets that support ADTA’s mission of assisting UAE economic diversification through tourism development.

TDIC, launched with an initial paid-up capital of Dh100 million ($27.5 million) with its shareholding fully owned by ADTA, operates along strictly commercial lines with its projects being self-sustaining and economically feasible.

Its activities include creating development and tourism related concepts for specific sites and locations, disposing of, or repositioning, government-owned tourism related assets, entering into joint ventures with investment partners for assets such as hotels or residential products, as well as serving as the master developer for large scale projects.

The Atlas Group is a leading telecommunications company in the UAE which has entered the hospitality sector.

It owns a small luxury business hotel in Dubai Media City, which opened earlier this year, and it is now planning to develop a second property in Dubai in the next six months.

The group also has future plans to develop boutique hotels and exclusive residential villas on the Indian Ocean island of the Seychelles where the group already owns a 26-acre beach front property in the capital, Mahe.

The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) was created in 2004 by Executive Decree of the Abu Dhabi Government to assist the economic diversification of the UAE through supporting and expanding the emirate’s tourism industry.

Key ADTA responsibilities include the development of an overall tourism strategy for Abu Dhabi – the largest of the seven emirates which form the UAE Federation - directing the implementation of activities needed to achieve strategic objectives and creating the physical infrastructure required by tourism operators and their clientele.

Abu Dhabi is planning to add 17,000 hotel rooms in a bid to increase tourism to the emirate from almost a million in 2004, to more than three million by 2015. ADTA has approved investment packages for 4,000 new rooms to be added in the next three years.
ADTA is chaired by Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan.

Spread over 87,340 sq km, Abu Dhabi is the largest of the seven emirates which make up the UAE and accounts for more than 85 per cent of the country’s total landmass.
Abu Dhabi city, built on the largest of almost 200 natural offshore islands in the emirate, is the capital both of the emirate and of the UAE. It is the federal seat of government and home to most ministries and institutions, embassies, state broadcasting facilities and oil companies.

Abu Dhabi’s population is currently around 1.6 million and is expected to grow by 6.8 per cent per annum over the next decade to a projected 3.4 million by 2015.
Abu Dhabi has an estimated 9.2 per cent of the world’s proven oil reserves and four per cent of its total proven natural gas reserves. The emirate has a per capita income of approximately $30,000.

Realising the challenges posed by the country’s heavy economic reliance on finite carbon resources, the emirate’s leadership is actively pursuing economic diversification.

-TradeArabia News Service