Dubai launches 'excellence cards' for labourers

Dubai - Cards will be given to 50,000 workers of 15 companies that won 4- and 5-star ratings in Taqdeer Award

Dubai is launching ‘excellence cards’ for labourers offering them incentives and discounts at government agencies and malls and commercial establishments across the emirate.

These special cards by the organisers of Taqdeer Award will offer more than 35 incentives from four government agencies – the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), Dubai Municipality, and General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai (GDRFA-Dubai), Dubai Media Office announced.

Launched under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, the new initiative forms part of the emirate’s efforts to enhance the welfare of workers and raise benchmarks in labour practices.

In its initial phase, these cards will be given to 15 major national and international companies that won 4- and 5-star ratings in the fourth edition of the Taqdeer Award in 2020 as well as 50,000 workers of these companies.

Major General Obaid Muhair bin Surour, chairman of Taqdeer Award, chairman of the Permanent Committee for Labour Affairs (PCLA) in Dubai and deputy director of the general of the GDRFA-Dubai said the project features two types of cards. “The first is a Gold Card that will be awarded to companies with four- and five-star ratings to obtain the incentives provided by government departments, while the second is a blue card. This card will enable eligible workers to obtain special discounts from malls and commercial establishments located near their labour accommodations,” said Major Surour.

He said the total value of discounts provided by malls, commercial establishments and national and international private companies amounts to millions of dirhams.

The announcement, set to be made at a gala award ceremony to be held on May 17 at the Rashid Hall of the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), seeks to recognise contributions of companies who received four- and five- star ratings in the Taqdeer Award’s fourth edition last year, as well as their workers.

The project will also feature a wide range of incentives and discounts extended by private institutions for workers belonging to these companies, he added.

Benefits for companies