Labour cards must be renewed in one month

This was revealed by Assistant Under-Secretary Humaid bin Dimas, who stressed that this will be the general practice of the ministry after the rectification grace period ends on March 8. According to the rule, employers can renew their workers' labour cards within one month from the date of expiry without paying any fine, he added.

However, after one month, the fine for renewing the card would be Dh5,000. This amount would hold good for cards which have expired by one day or a year. 'The company would have to pay the Dh5,000 fine of delay after the lapse of the first month of normal grace period,' he explained, adding that the work permits will be issued only after the fines have been paid.

He said: 'Earlier the ministry did not relate the issuance of work permit with the status of the workers' labour cards. But this new rule will help companies avoid paying accumulated fines.'

'The relatively flexible fine structure in the past — Dh2,000 regardless of the number of years of delay — resulted in many companies having large number of expired cards over many years,' Bin Dimas noted. With this rule in effect, no company will have labour cards that have expired several years back, he suggested.

Taking into consideration the big amount that would have to be paid by these companies, the ministry has asked them to pay just Dh5,000 regardless of the delay period, he explained.

'During the rectification grace period, many companies paid huge amounts, going up to a million dirham as fines in certain cases, for failing to renew the labour cards of a couple of hundred workers. Imagine the amount if they have to pay for each year of delay,' he pointed out.

Bin Dimas stressed that the ministry will be firm hereafter and will not allow such a situation to occur in the future. 'By applying this system, companies won't have to pay large sums as accumulated fines and very soon there won't be any companies that have any expired labour cards with them,' he added.