Skilled employees such as experts, consultants, university professors and doctors can take a maximum of two part-time jobs with two employers under the new system introduced by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, a senior official told Gulf News on Monday.
Dr Omar Abdul Rahman Al Nuaimi, assistant undersecretary for International Relations at the ministry, added the total hours a skilled worker can put in with the two employers must not exceed eight a day and 48 a week. “The employee must also enjoy at least one day weekly rest,” he said.
The new system is implemented alongside the existing system which allows employers and workers to establish normal business relationship under fixed-term or indefinite contracts.
The new system will enhance the flexibility of the labour market and reduce dependence on labour being sourced from abroad.
– Dr Omar Abdul, Rahman Al Nuaimi
A decision signed by Nasser Bin Thani Al Hameli, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation, companies can recruit skilled workers — holder of a university degree or higher and those who have completed their diploma in any field — from inside the country or overseas under part-time contracts, which allow these workers to take more than one part-time job without approval of the original or other employers.
The resolution states that an existing regular contract may not be converted into part-time contract or vice versa until after the end of the initial contract, so that each party may freely contract with the model it accepts.
Al Hameli said the new system will enhance the flexibility of the labour market and meet the needs of the employers from the existing labour market and thus reduce dependence on labour being sourced from outside the country.
He added the system contributes to attracting and retaining the skills and expertise to enhance the productivity of the labour market in the country.
The part-time contract is subject to the same rules and penalties applicable to the regular employment contracts, either fixed-term or non-fixed-term, out of keenness to protect the rights of the parties to the employment relationship, according to Al Hameli.
The two employers shall bear the employee’s annual leave, the end of service benefits and any other financial obligations in proportion to the number of actual working hours and the amount of the wage paid to the worker.
The decision obliges each employer to provide the worker with the requirements and working environment stipulated in the ministry’s regulations.
According to the decision, the employer may not require the worker to work more than the hours agreed upon without the written consent of the worker. The employer may not prevent the worker from working in a similar facility to his company under the non-competition clause or for disclosure of the secrets of the work, unless a court ruling has been issued to this effect.
Full list of skill categories
Eligible categories
Skilled workers who are eligible to enter into the new part-time contract are skill level I or holders of a university degree or higher and skill level II or those who have completed their two- or three-year diplomas after secondary school in any field.
Skill level I includes — but not limited to — board chairmen, chief executive officers, general managers, professors, marketing managers, sales managers, hotel managers, chemists, physicists, geologists, actuarial statisticians, information technology consultants, system analysts, computer programmers, computer networking, architects, urban planning engineers, interior design engineers, civil engineers, electrical engineers, chemical engineers, ship captains, doctors, veterinarians, pharmacists, teachers, judges, legal researchers, journalists, interpreters, librarians, archivists and musicians.
Skill level II includes — but not limited to — technicians, surveyors, technical controllers, air controllers, sea controllers, nurses, masseurs, orthopaedic physiotherapists, occupation rehabilitation technicians, nannies, dental assistants, pharmacist assistants, acupuncture technicians and real estate agents.
