India, UAE to have electronic contract registration system

Dubai: India and the UAE today inked a protocol to streamline the employment of Indian contract workers by way of an electronic registration and validation system, a move set to benefit 1.7 million workers from the country. Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs and the UAE Ministry of Labour achieved the milestone in their efforts to upgrade rules and procedures governing contract employment of Indian nationals in the UAE, the new system heralds a joint endeavour by the two countries. [caption id="" align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Reuters”][/caption] This protocol emanates from a comprehensive UAE-India Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Manpower, which was signed by Minister of overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi and Saqr Ghobash, UAE Minister of Labour, in New Delhi on 13 September, last year. The protocol mandates the informed consent and approval by the worker, the employer and the Indian competent authorities of the full terms of the work contract prior to the worker’s deployment to the UAE. The contract terms are, in turn, captured in the contract document that is eventually signed by worker and employer in the UAE and duly registered with the Ministry of Labour, a joint statement released here said. The agreement was signed in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi. UAE’s Minister Ghobash underlined the commitment of the UAE to exemplary co-operation with India on a range of areas, including the employment of Indian contract workers in the UAE, whose number has grown to approximately 1.7 million. In particular, the new system ensures the full transparency of the contracting process by mandating that the prospective worker be duly informed by Indian government-accredited recruitment agencies of the terms of the contract offer, including the scope of remuneration and employment conditions and benefits, prior to deploying to the UAE. He said that the system requires that the worker signs off on the terms of the contract and that the competent Indian government authorities approve these terms before the admission process is completed and a work permit is issued. These same terms are then electronically captured into the formal employment contract that is signed by worker and employer in the UAE. His Excellency stressed the importance of safeguarding and protecting the interests of both workers and employers under the provisions of the UAE Labour Law. Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi hailed the protocol, which he said would protect the interest of workers as well as the employers, as a leap in India-UAE relations in the field of labour employment. PTI