Jasim Jamil,
Director of the Work Relations Department, MoL, said that non-employment of
workers indicated that the work relationship is fake.
“Such a
violation of law will entail a one-year ban against the worker for failing to
notify the Ministry of his situation and not applying to transfer his
sponsorship to a new sponsor,” he said at the Open Day of the ministry on
Monday.
The owner of
the idle firm, he said, will also be fined Dh10,000 for importing workers to
get financial gains or allow those workers the chance to search for work in
the country.
The owners of
bogus firms circumvent the law through malicious notices of absconding
workers, though they know their whereabouts, he said.
“Inspectors
are striving to detect these erring firms early,” he said and called on
sponsors to correct their status by revoking these notices and granting
workers their full rights.
He explained
that the MoL cannot cancel labour cards of workers inside the country. The
procedure is to summon the worker and his employer to ensure that the worker
has been granted all his rights. Only then can cancellation take place. If the
worker is out of the country for more than six months, it will be cancelled
automatically.
Absconding
notice will not prevent the employer to write off the firm from the MoL
register. This procedure will protect the employer if the worker is on the run
or is still inside the country, he added.
Citing an
example, he said an employer applied for canceling the residency of a worker
after he placed an absconding notice on him in 2007 for being outside the
country. However, the department of naturalization and residency confirmed the
stay of the worker inside the country and can only be canceled
administratively after six months of his departure.
As this term
was not satisfied, the application was refused.