The UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation has announced that private sector companies employing Emirati citizens with a citizen-study work contract must increase the minimum wage for these employees to at least 4,000 dirhams. This is part of the Wage Protection System program announced by the Ministry.
Jerrymusa.com reports that the Ministry had previously launched the “Employment Contract for Student Citizen” system, one of the “Nafis” programs for Emiratisation, in cooperation with the Emirati Cadres Competitiveness Council.
The New Minimum Wage
This program aims to organize the contracts of private sector companies with national cadres enrolled in studies within specialized professions and jobs.
Private sector establishments are required to issue a work permit to the citizen according to a specific form, within the percentages or Emiratisation targets required of Emirati establishments.
The profession in the employment contract must be consistent with the specialty of the student citizen contracted with, and the establishment must pay a monthly wage of at least 4,000 dirhams through the Wage Protection System. The establishment must also register the student citizen in one of the state’s approved pension funds.
The Ministry has clarified that it is not permissible to combine the benefits and privileges of “NAFES” for national workers in the private sector, in addition to the rewards granted to the student citizen.
Establishments are required to amend the employment contract of the student citizen after their graduation to a “citizen employment contract” based on the models approved by the Ministry.
The wage level must be adjusted in accordance with the establishment’s regulations in the same professions, and the contract period after the amendment must be at least the duration of study during the “study citizen contract”.
The Ministry has also outlined several conditions for the employment contract, including appointing the citizen in a job consistent with their specialty after successful graduation, not changing the agreed-upon academic specialization except after approval, successfully passing the academic study program, committing to agreed training dates and conditions, maintaining work secrets, and joining work for the first party in the profession compatible with their specialization for a period not less than the duration of the contract.