MoHRE inaugurates ‘Fast Response Centre’ to support inspection operations during crises and states of emergency

The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) has inaugurated a ‘Fast Response Centre’ to support inspection operations in line with an integrated system for handling crises and states of emergency.

The inauguration comes as part of the MoHRE’s bid to develop labour market monitoring tools with a view to enhancing the stability of the relationship between employers and employees, preserving their rights and ensuring their abidance by the regulation of labour relations and the decisions issued in implementation thereof, Maher Al Obad, Deputy Undersecretary of MoHRE for Inspection Affairs, said.

Al Obad explained that the ‘Fast Response Centre’ provides an integrated database and information related to the reports and complaints received by the MoHRE, particularly those pertaining to wages and human trafficking cases. The centre also provides data on distressed establishments, which have employees under their sponsorship though they are closed, and other information related to employees and establishments by linking the centre with the MoHRE’s systems, he said. This would improve performance and production capacity of the MoHRE’s inspectors and enable them to deal rapidly with emergency situations and in times of crisis, he added.

Al Obad pointed out that the centre provides the feature of following up the inspectors’ field performance and facilitating round-the-clock co-ordination between them and the decision-maker, thus taking on-site fast measures as required.

Meanwhile, Al Obad affirmed that the MoHRE’s inspectors were continuing their field visits to worksites and labour housing, particularly through the teams formed in co-operation with the concerned authorities of the MoHRE’s partners. The visits are aimed  at ensuring compliance with the guideline of occupational health and safety requirements to protect workers from COVID-19 infections, he said, adding that they are also aimed at highlighting the importance of adhering to the guideline’s precautionary measures and requirements including measuring employees’ temperatures, providing disinfectants, following physical distancing rules, wearing masks and taking other preventive measures.

The inspection visits are paid concurrently with the ‘Together We Overcome Challenges’ campaign, which is aimed at familiarizing private sector employers and employees with the package of decisions and initiatives implemented by the MoHRE in co-operation with its partners as part of the ‘National program to support the stability of the labour market in the private sector’ during the COVID-19 outbreak. The campaign is also aimed at raising awareness of a number of initiatives and measures adopted by the MoHRE to enhance the stability of the work relationship between the parties concerned, maintaining their rights and ensuring discharge of their duties.

Al Obad explained that the MoHRE was carrying out inspection tasks remotely by communicating with establishments to underline the importance of paying wages through the Wages Protection System and offering various support packages for establishments to choose from in order to be able to abide by the relevant conditions and regulations aimed at preserving employees’ rights and enabling establishments to fulfil the necessary requirements and take the necessary measures related to regulating work relations including early leave, without the need to check with the MoHRE.

He pointed out that the MoHRE’s inspection teams carried out 31,610 visits between March and July including 1,360 visits to labour housing, 3,914 visits to follow up the precautionary measures taken by the establishments and 26,336 visits to follow up the establishments that were late for paying wages through the Wages Protection System.

The concerned inspection teams are continuing their field visits to worksites and labour housing to raise awareness of the importance of the decision banning the performance of work under the sun and in open places as well as its effective role in protecting workers from sunstroke and heat exhaustion, offering meals to support the employees of distressed establishments and providing accommodation for all the employees of these establishments, he said.

The decision banning the performance of work under the sun and in open places between 12:30pm and 3pm took effect on June 15 and will continue until September 15.