Over 1,200 firms caught breaking Emiratisation rules

As many as 1,202 private companies have been caught violating Emiratisation rules since mid-2022.

During this period, a total of 1,963 fake cases of Emiratisation were detected by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE).

Legal measures have been taken against the firms involved, including imposing fines ranging between AED 20,000 and AED 100,000, and referring them to the public prosecution, depending on the nature of the violation.

The violating companies are also downgraded to the lowest category within MoHRE's private sector classification system, while those involved in fake Emiratisation will no longer receive financial benefits under the Nafis programme for hiring UAE citizens.

The ministry will also recover any benefits that they accrued in the past.

Emiratisation is considered fake when a UAE national works in a nominal job without real tasks to meet the firm's mandatory Emiratisation targets, and/or when an Emirati is rehired in the same establishment with the aim of circumventing data and benefiting from the relevant benefits of Emiratisation.

According to MoHRE, more than 95,000 Emiratis are currently employed in the private sector.

Our inspection team has successfully identified 1202 private companies that have hired 1963 UAE nationals illegally through attempting to circumvent Emiratisation targets and engaging in Fake Emiratisation from mid-2022 till 14 March 2024.

Harmful practices that aim to undermine… pic.twitter.com/iavTgpGkzN

— وزارة الموارد البشرية والتوطين (@MOHRE_UAE) March 15, 2024