UAE to award AED 37 million for exceptional work practices

Nominations have opened for the Emirates Labour Market Award which recognises the efforts of outstanding companies, workers and business service partners and centres.

The prize pool for the second edition of the initiative, led by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE), has been increased to AED 37 million, compared to AED 9 million last year.

Meanwhile, the award categories have been expanded from three to five, including one for best labour accommodations.

The awards are aimed at enhancing the UAE labour market’s competitiveness, improving its productivity and efficiency, and recognising outstanding practices in the work environment.

Applications can be submitted online until August 31.

The inaugural edition in 2023 atracted more than 3,500 nominations, while 66 workers and companies were honoured.

The Emirates Labour Market Award announces increasing the total prize value of the second edition to AED37 million. Nominate now via the website https://t.co/y2VvFEtCAo pic.twitter.com/aqFdEhpdBW

— وزارة الموارد البشرية والتوطين (@MOHRE_UAE) March 7, 2024

Categories and criteria

The Companies category recognises firms that have adopted best practices in their human resources, based on criteria such as recruitment, empowerment, skills attraction, workplace environment, quality of life, innovation and readiness for the future.

Three-three winners will be selected under this category.

Outstanding Workforce includes three sub-categories. The first is Skilled Labour, which recognises high-level professional workforce. Its criteria include achievement, learning, continuous development and social responsibility.

The second and third sub-categories are Other Professional Workforce and Domestic Workers where winners are evaluated based on social responsibility and achievement. They are nominated by companies, community, employers, and families.

Forty-eight winners will be chosen from this category.

The third category is Labour Accommodations, which recognises the best investments in labour accommodations and applying the best standards in facilities, additional services provided to workers, the adoption and implementation of sustainability initiatives, and workforce well-being.

The fourth category, Business Services Partners, honours companies that have contributed to the development of leading labour market practices.

This category has three sub-categories: Domestic worker recruitment agencies – awarded to agencies that apply best practices in supporting their workforce and enabling clients to access the services they need.

The second sub-category is Employment Agencies – awarded to entities that excel in attracting and motivating qualified human resources within the framework of empowerment and development to increase productivity and efficiency.

The third sub-category is Business Services Centres – awarded to those that have implemented best practices in enabling human resources to provide outstanding services to the business sector, in addition to encouraging and motivating them.

In the Business Service Partners category, feedback from service beneficiaries will be considered, thus, involving the public in the evaluation process.

The fifth category, Special Recognition, honours the following:

Pioneering Company, which is awarded to a firm that has applied outstanding practices and has a positive impact on the UAE labour market; Personality of the Year for an exceptional individual contributing to the development of the UAE labour market; Leading Initiative for excellence in work relationships and developing best practices in skill acquisition and workforce empowerment; and Social Influencer for excelling in promoting labour market regulations, policies and raising awareness about them.

In a media briefing, HE Dr. Abdulrahman Al Awar, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation, Chairman of the Supervisory Committee of the Emirates Labour Market Award, shared insights into the 2nd edition of the #EmiratesLabourMarketAward.

He said: “Building on the success… pic.twitter.com/zKIKHCwJn6

— وزارة الموارد البشرية والتوطين (@MOHRE_UAE) March 7, 2024