E-mail Article
Printer Friendly
Share Article
Dubai recruiter referred to public prosecutor on fees
The UAE Ministry of Labour said on Thursday it has referred Dubai recruitment agency Execuland to the public prosecutor after the company was found to be charging jobseekers for their applications.
A sting operation by the Ministry of Labour (MoL), one in a series of crackdowns on rogue recruiters in the country, found that the company was charging candidates for applying for jobs.
“The ministry has suspended the company file, which means stopping the issuance of new work permits, and has transferred the case to the public prosecutor to take the necessary legal action,” said Maher Hamad Al Obad, the executive director of inspection.
MoL opened an investigation into the company after receiving several complaints that job candidates were asked for a fee, he said.
Article 18 of the UAE Labour Law states that: “no licensed employment agent or labour supplier shall demand or accept from any worker...any commission or material reward in return for employment”.
Execuland, a white-collar recruitment consultancy with offices on the 41st floor of Emirates Towers, was also found to be advertising jobs despite only being registered as a consultancy with the Department of Economic Development.
Article 17 of the Labour Law requires all recruiters in the country to be registered with MoL.
In an interview with Arabian Business last week, Execuland chief executive Mohammed Al Salem denied any wrongdoing and said the company’s main role was as an HR consultancy.
“We write HR policies and advise companies on how to build up their HR departments,” he said.
The company currently did not have an office after leaving Emirates Towers, following disagreements with landlord Servcorp over the number of people passing through its waiting room, he said.
Most job applicants only paid the company to have their CVs rewritten and only a few candidates had been charged for psychological tests required by employers, who normally bore the cost, he claimed.
Al Salem did not answer calls on Thursday morning.
Previously only a problem for blue-collar workers in sectors like construction, the economic slowdown has seen illegal recruitment fees spread to all parts of the market as a wave of redundancies across the Gulf created a surplus of job candidates.
Quick Links(Residental)
Filter by address:
Comments 1-3 of 3
Posted by Samantha on 16 October 2009 at 18:31 UAE time
Having worked in Dubai for over 10 years as an Executive Search Consultant, I think the Ministry should up it's game and have some due diligence done on firms even after they apply and are operational. This is definately not the only company that has been charging candidates as I'm well aware of others through candidates of mine. It is unethical to do so especially with the current desperate market conditions where thousands of umemployed individuals are struggling to move on with their life in the Emirates. A recruitment consultant's first joint goal should be the career progression for his/her candidates and placing exceptional candidates with their clients, not the pretty penny in their pocket. As far as I'm aware, the MoL has ceased granting recruitment licenses (since a couple of years back) and therefore firms have to choice but to apply for consultancy licenses which makes their activity in the UAE illegal from day one. There are various top names which haven't been discouraged by this and have resorted to this alternative. It is the MoL's duty to follow up on any of these cases and for these individuals to report any firm such as the one in the article.
Posted by Kareem, Abu dhabi, UAE on 16 October 2009 at 17:00 UAE time
This is the tip of the iceberg. There are more consultants who are making money by collecting money from the poor and desperate candidates in the name of registration charges, training fees, CV development charges and assessment charges. Candidates please beware of fraudsters.
Posted by Hardly. on 15 October 2009 at 14:43 UAE time
This is not the first time I have heard of this, but not with the same company. I have worked as a Headhunter for 5 years now,UK, Europe, UAE : Please, NEVER pay the recruiter any money as a job seeker. His fee should always come from service delivery to the client.
Sometimes US candidates have asked me about a fee, so I assume it is sometimes practiced there, but it is not generally accepted.