By Xinhua
Abu Dhabi : The Ministry of Labour of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has decided to put up on its website names of the business houses employing illegal workers, Gulf News reported Wednesday.
It is important to name the erring companies and inform the public they exploit workers, ministry official Humaid Bin Deemas was quoted as saying.
“A person who works for a company illegally is weak, cannot protect himself, is open to exploitation and can have no documents to prove his rights,” he said.
The ministry is trying to prevent such exploitation through inspection, he added.
The UAE cabinet last June had decided to take measures to implement labour laws strictly to protect workers’ rights and instructed the ministries of labour and interior to work in unison to punish intransigent firms.
In addition, an amnesty period of three months, which was subsequently extended to Nov 2, was given to illegal workers to legalise their position or leave the country without penalty.
The UAE, with the second largest economy and the largest Gross Domestic Product per capita in the Arab world, employs millions of foreign workers.