Under a new set of resolutions adopted by the UAE Cabinet, private sector firms will need to pay heavy penalties if they do not meet the enhanced Emiratisation criteria, while attractive incentives will be offered to companies that do.

The UAE Cabinet, chaired by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has adopted resolutions to increase the Emiratisation rate to 2 percent annually for high-skilled jobs in establishments that employ 50 workers or more.

The step aims to create more than 12,000 job opportunities annually for citizens across all economic sectors, the state-run news agency, Wam reported.

Non-compliant companies will have to pay an amount of AED 6,000 per month, starting from January 2023, for every citizen that has not been employed.

The resolutions come in line with the goals of Nafis, the federal programme that aims to increase the competitiveness of the Emirati workforce and to facilitate the private sector employment of UAE citizens.

Meanwhile, private sector establishments that accomplish major achievements in terms of recruitment and training of Emirati citizens will receive incentives, including the reduction of the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation service fees by 80 percent.

The Nafis programme for Emiratisation

The Nafis programme offers various benefits including the Emirati Salary Support Scheme where UAE citizens will be offered a one-year salary support of up to AED 8,000 per month during training and a monthly support of up to AED 5,000 will be paid for up to five years for university graduates.

The programme provides UAE citizens specialised in fields such as coders, nurses, and accountants with a top-up on their existing salaries.

The programme also offers a subsidised five-year government-paid contribution on the company’s behalf against the cost of pension plans for Emirati staff and full support for the Emirati’s contribution across the first five years of their employment.

The secretary-general of the Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council, Ghannam Al Mazrouei, said that he expects the private sector establishments to commit to the new resolutions and increase Emiratisation by 2 percent for high-skilled jobs until achieving the 10 percent target by the 2026, stressing that private sector establishments will benefit from the Nafis programme.

The Nafis programme also offers the Private Sector Child Allowance Scheme, which is a scheme that offers a monthly grant to Emirati staff working in the private sector of up to AED 800 per child up to a maximum of AED 3,200 per month.

Data discussed in the UAE Cabinet meeting revealed that 5,558 new Emiratis joined the private sector since the launch of Nafis in September 2021 till March 2022, while the number of companies that hired new employees increased to 1,774.

The data indicated that the number of citizens registered on the platform and eligible to benefit from the Nafis initiatives reached 25,876, and that the number of job opportunities on the platform reached 2,524, while the number of beneficiaries increased to 4,074 people.

Source: Arabian Business