Companies in the UAE were forced to pay a total of 52 million dirhams ($14.2 million) in unpaid wages last year and 545 firms had their activities frozen or suspended for withholding wages, the Labour Ministry said on Saturday.
The ministry said in its 2007 labour report that some 50,000 firms were also fined a total of 300 million dirhams for delays in issuing or renewing labour cards/contracts between the beginning of 2006 and the end of 2007.
It said another 816 companies were charged with forcing employees to work outside between 12:30 pm and 3:00 pm during the hot summer months, which was banned in 2005.
The annual report, published by state news agency Wam, gives an overview of the UAE labour market and outlines measures taken by the government to improve labour rights.
The Labour Ministry admitted there was “much more to be done to expand the capacity to enforce labour laws and fully protect the rights of workers”.
However, it said there was “unequivocal commitment to enhancing the existing legal framework to mandate and support labour rights throughout the UAE”.
The ministry said last year there were approximately 3.1 million foreign workers from 202 countries living in the UAE, which presented unique challenges that took “diligence, time and both fiscal and management resources” to meet.
The UAE is keen to be seen improving labour rights following several damning reports on the plight of low-paid construction and domestic workers in the Gulf state.
US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a 2006 report entitled ‘Building Towers, Cheating Workers’ that the UAE had failed to stop employers from “seriously abusing” the rights of construction workers.
The UAE, along with other Gulf states, again came in for criticism in a 2007 HRW report entitled ‘Exported and Exposed’ for the treatment of domestic workers, which the group claimed faced “violence, harassment and exploitation”.
There have also been numerous high-profile strikes by construction workers over pay and conditions that have hit international headlines.
In the the most high-profile of the strikes, around 40,000 Arabtec labourers, some of which were working on the Burj Dubai, downed tools for almost two weeks.
Construction workers, the majority of which come from India, have been hit hard by the falling value of the US dollar and soaring value of the rupee, eroding the relative value of their salaries, which can be as little as 400 dirhams ($109) a month.
Last year the rupee appreciated around 12% against the dollar, to which the dirham is pegged.
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