The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation has issued a Ministerial Decision on the Licensing and Regulation of the Work of Employment Agencies in Implementation of the Federal Labour Relations Law and its Implementing Regulations.
The activities of employment agencies include mediation activities to bring the two parties and their representatives together to negotiate the terms of the contract and employment, with the aim of establishing an employment relationship without the agency becoming a party. Its activity also includes temporary work and outsourcing through the use of the worker with the intention of placing him at the disposal of a third party, whereby the relationship of the worker becomes directly with the agency that has outsourced his services to a third party, the beneficiary, a natural or legal person. The worker is assigned to him or her under the system of temporary work and outsourcing and is deployed under his or her supervision, whether for a specific period of time or to perform a task or provide a specific service.
The Ministerial Decision establishes a set of procedures for licensing the agency, while allowing the opening of branches in the same licensed emirate or in any other emirate in accordance with the requirements of the local licensing authorities, without the need to obtain the approval of the Ministry, provided that the same licensing conditions are met.
The ministerial decision, based on the law and its implementing regulations, also sets out a number of responsibilities and duties for agencies, whether in the field of placement or temporary work and outsourcing, as well as the duties of the beneficiary of the agency's work under the agency's labour administration.
The obligations of the agency, whether it is in the field of mediation or temporary work and outsourcing, are that the contracts it concludes with the worker or employer and with the worker or beneficiary must be in writing and must specify the obligations of each party, taking into account the application of the provisions of the Decree-Law and its implementing regulations in the areas not provided for in these contracts, to be taken into account, and that they shall be kept for a period of not less than two years, contain records of the workers employed by the agency, the details of each worker, their places of work, the details of the employer or beneficiary, wages, copies of contracts and other data and information specified in the Manual of Procedures, provided that quarterly statements are submitted to the Ministry in accordance with the mechanisms established by it for this purpose.
The duties of the mediation agency include the repatriation of the worker to the country from which he or she was recruited, at its own expense. It shall also be liable for any damage caused to others by the performance of its activities if it is proved that the agency failed to comply with the terms of the agreement concluded with the employer or the beneficiary, and for the failure of the employee to pass the required medical examination or to be physically fit to perform the work in accordance with the official medical reports at the time of recruitment and the failure of the employee's qualifications to match the qualifications, skills or specializations required or agreed for his or her employment and the failure of the employee to sign the contract forms approved by the Ministry.
The obligations of the temporary employment agency and outsourcing shall also include the fulfilment of all obligations of an employer towards the worker established by law, and the temporary employment agency shall in no way fail to fulfil these obligations because of the beneficiary's failure to comply with the agreement concluded with it, and it shall be the first responsible party, in any case, for fulfilling these obligations and providing the beneficiary with a copy of the terms of use agreed with the beneficiary and a list of the tasks to be performed by that worker, as well as for providing the beneficiary with workers for the agreed periods of time and ensuring the required level of qualification and skills.
The Agency shall also be under an obligation not to employ or recruit any worker who falls under the category of juveniles who are not entitled to work under the applicable laws of the country and not to receive, directly or indirectly, from the workers themselves or through intermediaries, any amount, money, commission or fee for any reason whatsoever. The Ministry may require the Agency to undertake to repay to the worker any amount paid by the worker to any party or person within or outside the country with whom the Agency has done business in this connection.
The obligations also include that the agency shall not act on behalf of a beneficiary to provide him with employment or to replace workers employed by him with other workers if that beneficiary is involved in collective labor disputes, or a decision has been made to discontinue his establishments, and shall not deal with any person, or to work with any other agency, inside or outside the country, to recruit or hire temporary workers or to engage in outsourcing, unless such person or agency is licensed to engage in such activity in accordance with the applicable laws of the labor sending country or the UAE.
With regard to the beneficiary's obligations to the worker, the Ministerial Decision set out a number of obligations, including ensuring all conditions of health and safety at work for the worker in relation to the nature of the work and the risks of the occupation in accordance with the relevant legislation, not to assign work or services to the worker, beyond the general scope agreed with the Agency, and not to make the worker work longer hours than those agreed with the Agency, except in accordance with the provisions and controls for overtime set out in the decree-law, the implementing regulations and the relevant Decisions, and after approval by the Agency.
The obligations shall also include providing the worker with written instructions on the tasks to be performed by him/her within the general framework agreed with the Agency and submitting his/her worksheet to him/her before sending it to the Agency, as well as writing down any reservations the worker may have about the content of the notification and the non-employment of the worker by another party.
The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation may temporarily suspend or revoke the agency's license in the event of the availability and proven inaccuracy of any document or data provided for the purposes of the license, or if the agency commits any act involving any form of forced labour, trafficking or non-payment of workers' wages, or the failure to comply with any of the conditions under which the license was granted.