UAE: Two fined Dh600,000 for employing 12 workers illegally
A court in the UAE has sentenced two people to fines of Dh600,000 each for the unlawful employment of 12 workers. The two were picked up in the checks carried out in February. The 12 workers were fined Dh1,000 and subsequently deported from the country.
This development comes as the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship, Customs and Ports Security (ICP) disclosed that it carried out 252 checks in the previous month to apprehend offenders of the residency law. The authority did not disclose the number, but said that a number of illegals were picked up during the 4,771 establishment checks done.
These included employing workers, be they illegal or residing contractors, without a valid service agreement and working for a particular company while legally employed by a different business.
Major General Suhail Saeed Al Khaili, director general of the ICP, revealed that these captured illegals were processed through the all relevant authorities for due legal procedures. Court orders have been given for the violators and their employers who have been sanctioned, some of who have these employed have been deported.
The officer does not mince words in issuing a stern warning of up to Dh50,000 in penalties for cases of illegal employment or housing of a worker. The same penalty extends to employing prospective employees who are unqualified and permitting them to work for other businesses. These penalties escalate with increasing frequency of the offense.
The general stressed that individuals and companies must follow the law while hiring and advised not to engage contract-less employees. Issues of contracts have to be solved before employment to prevent legal disputes in the future.
The ICP apprehended and subsequently deported 6,000 law offenders in a single swoop which included the overriding majority of the violators. These numbers come after a stricto enforcement period that followed the expiration of a four month visa amnesty. There has previously been a grace period where violators could leave the country without restrictions or accept new employment and stay in the UAE legally.
“They were able to turn themselves in after the amnesty period enabling the *gaps in services and legal presence to be filled,”* The General anonomously disclosed under the sample size of amnestied offenders that have claimed to be undocumented in the AED. With this said, violators can and at the very least claim of abuse of translation services and/or lack of action from governing bodies and policemen such as overreaching ban powers.
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