UAE: 36 companies, 94 workers honoured for contributions to labour welfare at Taqdeer Award

Workers and companies in various fields, including the construction and service industries, were recognised for their exceptional contributions to labour welfare and productivity at the fifth cycle of the Taqdeer Award held on Tuesday at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

The award ceremony at the facility's Sheikh Rashid hall honoured 36 companies and 94 workers in a gesture of "appreciation from the Government of Dubai for labourers who are working to build the country up alongside the government", according to Major-General Obaid Muhair bin Suroor, Deputy Director-General of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai (GDRFA-Dubai) and Chairman of the Taqdeer Award.

“We want to bring quality to the labour environment by encouraging the companies that give the best surroundings for their workers. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, started this award to recognise those in the construction sector but now we have expanded our scope to cover various other sectors,” Maj-Gen bin Suroor said.

The Taqdeer Award recognises companies that excel in labour welfare programmes and provide quality working environments for their workers, as well as employees who have made significant contributions to setting new standards in worker welfare and productivity.

Matter of pride

Dressed in blue and yellow T-shirts and caps, hundreds of employees from various companies that were awarded turned out at the event to support their employers. They cheered and clapped as their companies were called on stage for their 3-, 4- or 5-star rating for the environment they provided their employees with.

“This award is very precious for our company and, in turn, for us,” said Shyam Bahadur Tripathi, who attended the event along with his friends. “It is a matter of pride for us. Our company takes good care of us and we are very happy to be able to come here and cheer for them.”

His colleague Sushil Kumar agreed. “It gives us a lot of respect in the market,” he said. The Indian expats are employees of Jotun UAE, which won a 4-star rating.

Maj-Gen bin Suroor elaborated that the awards were encouraging companies to improve the welfare of their workers.

“We provide companies that participate in this initiative a report highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. There are some companies that were rated 1-star during our inaugural awards, which have now been certified as 5-star. This is a huge achievement,” he pointed out.

Dr Azad Moopen, managing director of Aster DM Healthcare, one of the partners of the award, said that the recognition encouraged workers.

“We believe that the most important reason for the success of any company is its people. It is extremely essential for organisations to ensure that their people, their employees, are taken care of — and this award drives home that message,” he said.

Criteria

The criteria for the Award are based on international best practices, including those approved by the UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation and the International Labour Organisation.

The programme evaluates submissions and scores them on a 1,000-point grading scale in which 500 points are awarded for the empowerment of workers, 250 points are allocated for workers’ feedback on the work environment and 250 points for performance indicators.

The empowerment criterion consists of two basic components – support for workers (250 points), which covers labour policies, facilities and infrastructure, occupational health and safety, worker security and wages; and the work culture and environment criterion (250 points), which covers justice and transparency, creativity and innovation, regulations and instructions, labour relations, communication and feedback.

A company must score 700 points or more to obtain a 5-star rating, while companies that score 550 points will get a 4-star rating.

In addition to the companies, 94 workers in various economic sectors were honoured at the Taqdeer Award ceremony. They received mementos and cash in recognition for their hard work. The workers also received a loyalty card called the Taqdeer Blue card, that offers them discounts and savings in over 60 establishments and shops, allowing them to save thousands of dirhams every year.

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