The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization has announced that the wage protection system will be applied to domestic workers on an optional basis starting tomorrow. This will allow employers to pay the wages of this category of workers electronically through banks, exchange offices, and financial institutions that have been approved and authorized by the Central Bank to provide this service.
Khalil Khoury, assistant undersecretary for Domestic Labor Affairs at the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization, said, "The voluntary application of the wage protection system to domestic workers stems from the ministry's desire to provide excellent services to employers to help them easily pay domestic workers' wages on the specified dates, while preserving their right to prove the process of paying wages. This process would greatly contribute to the stability of the relationship between the two parties.
He explained that employers can pay wages through the system, either through cash transfers to banks and exchange offices that offer this service and are registered and approved by the Central Bank, or through smart applications for these agencies after contracting with them according to the procedures in place.
Khoury said that the wage protection system includes all categories of domestic workers mentioned in the Domestic Workers Law. These include domestic worker, sailor, housekeeper, cook, security guard, private driver, shepherd, household horse groomer, falcon caretaker, laborer, housekeeper, household farmer, gardener, private coach, private tutor, private nurse, private PRO and private agricultural engineer.
The Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization for Domestic Workers Affairs confirmed his confidence in the success of the application of the wage protection system to domestic workers, especially since the Ministry and its partners have the necessary experience to operate this system, which has been applied to workers in the private sector since 2009, which has had a significant positive impact on the stability and transparency of labor relations between employers and employees in the private sector.
It is noteworthy that the UAE has pioneered the development and implementation of the system, which has subsequently been applied by a number of countries, especially as it has been praised at the regional, Arab and international levels.