Over 11,000 Workers Participate In PCLA Awareness Programme In 2019

Over 11,000 workers participate in PCLA Awareness Programme in 2019

(Pakistan Point News - 21st Jan, 2020) DUBAI, 21st January, 2020 (WAM) - Nearly 11,915 workers attended the awareness sessions held as part of the Permanent Committee of Labour Affairs', PCLA, initiative in 2019, said Major-General Obaid Muhair bin Surour, Deputy Director-General of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreign Affairs, and Chairman of the PCLA.

Bin Surour stated that a total of 249 awareness sessions were held throughout 2019 at the Jebel Ali Free Zone, JAFZA, with the intention of educating workers over their rights and obligations according to the UAE laws and legislations, introducing them to the culture of the Emirati Society, and enhancing their knowledge with regard to the health and safety standards to be followed at their workplaces according to the UAE laws.

He added that the PCLA’s Awareness Initiative has been achieving outstanding success for several years since it first kicked off in June 2016. The initiative held 505 awareness sessions in JAFZA that were attended by over 40,655 foreign workers in total.

Dr. Ahmed Al-Hashimi, consultant of the PCLA, and Chairman of the middle East Centre for Training and Development, stated that the awareness programme was created according to academic and scientific grounds and in compliance with international standards over human rights and migrant labour. Besides, the programme takes the stability of labour relations between workers and employers into consideration, and ensures such stability through the delivery of a comprehensive Labour Law and contractual regulation-oriented training content.

Al-Hashimi said the awareness programme was delivered to nearly 11,915 workers through 249 sessions held between March and December 2019. Moreover, 3,525 surveys were distributed among participating workers before and after the sessions. Such surveys revealed that 68.99 percent of the attending workers had adequate knowledge about cultural and social behaviour within the UAE before the sessions were introduced, while the percentage climbed to 79.54 percent after such sessions.

Moreover, only 71.63 percent of the workers provided the right answers to questions related to necessary legal documents to be held throughout their employment period within the UAE, such as the Emirates ID and the Labour Card. The figure went up to 79.94 percent after the delivery of the sessions.