(Pakistan Point News - 29th Jul, 2020) ABU DHABI, 29th July 2020 (WAM) - The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD) has announced the launch of the "Barzah (literally meaning sitting) with a businessman" initiative to raise awareness of the duties and rights of both workers and employers in accordance with the laws, regulations and decisions in force in the United Arab Emirates.
This is in accordance with the directives of H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, towards establishing legal knowledge as one of the most important foundations for strengthening the rule of law and achieving economic, social and security stability.
Yousef Saeed Al-Abri, ADJD Undersecretary indicated that the initiative adopted by the Abu Dhabi Labour Court is aimed at employers in Abu Dhabi with a view to achieve one of the UAE legislators' most important priorities related to the laws governing the labour market, which is to achieve balance and justice between the interests of both workers and employers, and thus achieving the continuity of development and economic work in all areas, to enhance economic and security stability. He also pointed out that ADJD has adopted, in the past years, a campaign to educate workers about their rights under the slogan "Their rights, our responsibility".
The Abu Dhabi Labour Court, in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Businesswomen's Council, organized, yesterday, the first activities of the "Barzah with a Businessman" initiative, a teleconference entitled "Corona Crisis and its impact on workers and employers in Abu Dhabi". Advisor Abdullah Fares, President of the Abu Dhabi Labour Court, opened the seminar by highlighting the initiative and explaining that it aims to educate businessmen about the nature of the employer's relationship with the worker and their duties towards their employees. This in addition to raising their awareness of the negative effects of collective labour lawsuits as well as to hear their opinions on ways to reduce the number of labour cases filed in labour courts.
For his part, Adviser Ali Hassan Al Hashemi, Vice-President of the Abu Dhabi Labour Court, presented during the conference a working paper on the impact of the conditions resulting from the outbreak of the Corona pandemic on the labour market in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi; where he shed light on the legal effects of the new Corona Virus on contractual obligations, including the obligations of the employer under the employment contract.
This taking into consideration the different effects of the Corona pandemic according to each case, which ranges from not being affected to the implementation of force majeure clause or the activation of the emergency circumstances clause, without prejudice to the right to abrogate the contract for emergency reasons. He also referred to the precautionary measures taken by the state during the Corona pandemic in the labour market.
He also touched on the balance achieved by the legislator between the rights of the worker and the burdens of the employer in the time of Corona; it included the possibility of reorganizing the business with its non-citizen workers as well as the registration of the surplus staff of each establishment in the database, with some of its obligations maintained by employers, in addition to the duties of the establishment in case of the desire to hire non-citizen workers and the procedures for obtaining various work permits, or in case of the desire to reduce the wage of the worker who is not an Emirati either temporarily or permanently.
And on the implications of the new Corona on individual working relationships between problems and solutions, Al Hashemi gave an explanation about the terms of employment termination and the need to avoid arbitrary dismissal, the issue of the workers' claims for leave allowance as well as the notice period allowance, in addition to the end-of-service gratuity benefits and the disbursement of commissions and dividends.
