Laws which protect the employment rights of GCC nationals above those of expatriate workers are detrimental to a company’s success, a workforce development expert has claimed.
Dr Jack Whiley told Arabian Business on Thursday that staff morale and profits suffer when employees deemed unable to carry out their duties are kept on by their employers.
“I am not an expert on labour laws or employment practices [in the GCC] but I do know that when you limit an organisation’s ability to eliminate poor performers from their organisation you limit the potential success of the company,” he said on the sidelines of Kenexa’s Gulf Employee Engagement Survey conference.
“You also drag down morale of the workers, because when people aren’t doing the job they are asked to do it still has to be done. So, someone else has to step in and take up the slack and that often generates resentment towards poor performers who aren’t dealt with properly by managers of the organisation.”
The comments come two months after the UAE government introduced rules making it difficult for private companies to sack nationals.
The UAE Ministry of Labour introduced the rules designed to ensure locals were not sacked for “flimsy reasons”.
Under the rules, companies wanting to terminate a national’s employment contract must prove the worker was underperforming or in violation of labour laws.
“It is important for profit-seeking organisations to hire the very best people and maximise their performance when they are on the job,” Whiley said.
“For most organisations worldwide, about 56 percent of their expense level is tied directly to employee compensation and other benefits provided, so it is extremely important for them to be maximally competitive.
“This helps them shape their employees to have the most effective, productive workforce they can, and any barrier to that could potentially be seen as a limiting factor on the company’s ability to be successful.”
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