The UAE has experienced rapid development and urbanisation since the 1990s. In all sectors, this growth has heavily relied on migrant workers. Only approximately 12% of the UAE’s population consists of Emiratis, with the majority of migrant workers – both high- and low-skilled – employed on short term contracts tied to their visas. A total of 96% of Emirati families employ domestic workers in their households, and each Emirati household employs an average of three domestic workers. This results in 94.8% of domestic workers and personal assistants in the UAE being migrant workers. Like many other GCC countries, the UAE operates a kafala system that binds workers to their employer (who, ultimately, dictates the employees’ ability to change jobs or leave the country). Under the kafala system, employers may also unilaterally cancel contracts, immediately giving ex-employees irregular status in the country. A number of prevalent abuses are common due to the lack of protection and enforcement of labour laws as well as a result of the delegation of oversight to employers and kafala sponsors. The practice of passport confiscation, for example, is illegal but remains widespread.
Moreover, an electronic Wage Protection System (WPS) was put in place in 2009 in order to protect workers from wage theft and other irregularities; however, the problem persists. The requirement to seek permission to change employers from kafala sponsors means workers have to face working without payment of wages or for less than their agreed salary. They may also risk losing their legal working status to find employment elsewhere, often with even fewer protections. This creates a situation where migrant workers can find significant differences in promised versus actual experiences in terms of salary, working conditions, and accommodation. Workers may consequently find themselves in a debt trap, having taken out loans for transit, visa, and administration fees (also associated with recruitment), which they are then unable to repay due to wage theft and illegal fees charged to them via their employer. Some workers are employed in the UAE for years without being able to repay their loans and are then illegally forced to pay their sponsor for visa renewals; this often thrusts them even further into debt.
Domestic workers in the UAE are most vulnerable as domestic work traditionally has not been considered analogous to other forms of labour. This is due to the work being historically unpaid and undertaken by women. As such, domestic work was – until very recently – regulated by the Ministry of the Interior rather than the Ministry of Labour. Whilst this change has now been made, domestic workers are still not granted the same protections as other workers (with regards to days off and freedom to leave their employer’s home, for example). Employers may not let domestic workers leave the house unsupervised or at all, for fear of them engaging in ‘illegitimate’ relationships and of responsibility for potential illegal behaviour. This isolation can have several negative effects and puts domestic workers at risk of abuse. The conditions faced by labour migrants in the UAE also make it very difficult to organise and engage in collective bargaining practices. Furthermore, such kind of selective action is either illegal or heavily repressed regardless, leading to arrests and deportations.
Find out more about the degree of respect for worker’s rights in this country based on ITUC Global Rights Index here.