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Midday break rule from tomorrow
Midday break rule from tomorrow 13 June 2013 Labour Ministry assistant undersecretary for inspection affairs, Maher Hamad Al Obad, has underlined the keen interest of the government in providing all means of living for labourers, improving their conditions and maintaining their safety, which reflects on the stability of the labour market. He said this is made through adoption of initiatives and enactment of laws that maintain human rights, safeguarding their dignity and securing their requirements for a decent life for them, according to the tenets of Islam and the laws and norms issued by international organisations. Al Obad made the remarks at a speech at a reception held here on Thursday to mark the launch of the mandatory midday break rule for labourers which will come into force on Saturday. The noon work ban will run for three months. The break will be from 12.30pm until 3pm. Employers have been asked to provide shaded areas for their workers during the break time. In case a worker works for more than eight hours a day, the extra working hours will be treated as overtime, and he will be paid for it as per the provisions of the Federal Law No 8 of 1980 on regularising labour relations. The three-month midday break rule will end on September 15. Labourers must not work at all during the banned hours especially if he works in the open. Works which must continue non-stop for technical reasons are exempt from the ban, but employers are required to provide all facilities that cater to the health and safety of workers including first aid, re-hydration/electrolyte solutions and cold water. A list of worker exemptions will also be issued by the ministry. The rule makes it binding on the employers to publish, in a conspicuous place at the workplace, a schedule of the daily working hours as per the rules, and should be written in Arabic to facilitate being read and reviewed by the labour inspectors while conducting surveillance visits, and also in a language that is understood by the workers. It also calls for providing suitable protection facilities to protect workers from risks of occupational injuries and diseases, which might happen during working hours. Other measures include risks of fire which might result from using work tools and following all other methods of protection stipulated in the labour law and the executing ministerial decrees. Companies who break the midday break rule will face penalties. Offenders will have the classification of their firms downgraded by the ministry, and will be fined Dh15,000 for each offence. news@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
French President, Mohammed hold talks
French President, Mohammed hold talks (WAM) / 13 June 2013 French President Francois Hollande received at the Elysee Palace on Thursday His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The meeting was attended by Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Foreign Minister. During the meeting, Shaikh Mohammed and Hollande discussed issues of mutual interest, notably strengthening of the historic friendship ties between the UAE and France laid down by the late Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. They also discussed ways of enhancing the strategic partnership between the two countries, especially in the areas of economy, military, culture and humanitarian affairs. The talks, which also covered regional issues, focussed on the consolidation of stability, peace, freedom and justice in the region. Hollande praised the UAE policy, which is based on the dialogue and openness to peoples and countries, citing the humanitarian attitudes of the UAE leadership. For his part, the UAE Vice President expressed his satisfaction about visiting France and consulting with the French President, stressing the depth of friendship and cooperation ties between the leaders and peoples of the two countries. He referred to the French supportive attitudes to the issues of justice, freedom and peace, especially just Arab issues. Among others in attendance were Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Aviation Authority and Chairman of Emirates Group, Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Gargawi, Minister for Cabinet Affairs, Dr Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashimi, Minister of State, Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, Director General of the Dubai Ruler’s Court, Lt. General Musbeh Rashid Al Fattan, Director of the office of the UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, Khalifa Saeed Suleiman, Director General of the Department of Protocols and Hospitality in Dubai, UAE Ambassador to France Mohammad Meer Abdullah Al Raessi and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. Continue reading
MSCI upgrades UAE, Qatar to emerging markets
MSCI upgrades UAE, Qatar to emerging markets Muzaffar Rizvi / 12 June 2013 The UAE and Qatar finally elevated to emerging market by the global index compiler MSCI that will boost investor sentiment and attract foreign investment inflows into the region. With this long-awaited MSCI up-gradation, the UAE and Qatari shares are expected to attract approximately one per cent, or up to $500 million, of total global investments in the emerging markets space annually only after the reclassification takes effect in May next year. However, the two Gulf States will see a gradual surge in foreign investment inflows of up to $3 billion over a period of time. An investor monitors electronic stock boards at the Dubai Financial Market in Dubai. KT photo by Rahul Gajjar “The reclassifications of the MSCI Qatar and MSCI UAE Indices will coincide with the May 2014 Semi Annual Index Review while the reclassifications of the MSCI Greece and MSCI Morocco Indices will coincide with the November 2013 Semi Annual Index Review,” MSCI said in its yearly market classification report, posted on its website early Wednesday. Speaking on a conference call, MSCI managing director and global head of index research Remy Briand said Qatar and UAE stock markets would have a greater share in MSCI Emerging Market Index as compared to Greece, which downgraded from developed market. “Qatar and UAE will have a 0.45 per cent and 0.45 weight in the MSCI Emerging Market Index compared to Greece’s 0.3 per cent,” he said. The New York-based Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) currently has its country indices for both UAE and Qatar. In the UAE Index, the developer includes stocks such as Emaar Properties, DP World, ADCB and NBAD, but it is still unclear that all of these shares will be included in the Emerging Market Index. Dubai Financial Market (DFM) was first to welcome the MSCI annual market classification review to upgrade the MSCI UAE Index to emerging markets status. Essa Kazim, managing director and chief executive, Dubai Financial Market, said: “This significant step evidently demonstrates international institutions’ recognition of DFM’s pivotal role over the last three years to further enhance the UAE market infrastructure in collaboration with the Securities and Commodities Authority of UAE (SCA). This development is overdue in light of the market infrastructure improvements made and ticking of all upgrade requirements long time ago.” A media statement by the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) said the DFM is amongst the best performing exchanges globally since the beginning of the year with its market index up by almost 50 per cent to rank amongst the best performing exchanges. The average daily trading value increased 67 per cent to Dh460 million compared to Dh278.2 million in the corresponding period of 2012, the statement said. “We are delighted to see the UAE market upgraded to emerging markets status, which reflects international investors’ confidence in our markets and their satisfaction with what we have accomplished,” Kazim said. MSCI said international institutional investors recognised the improvements made by the UAE regulator and bourses with respect to the delivery versus payment model. “The majority of market participants have expressed no major concerns over the safekeeping of investors’ assets and are starting to move away from the dual account structure,” MSCI said. For Qatar, the index provider said it welcomed the progress made by the authorities to raise the limits on foreign ownership of companies listed on the Doha-based exchange, but added that the current foreign ownership limits were still low by emerging market standards and the Qatari authorities should actively continue to increase them above 25 per cent in order to mitigate potential issues arising from increasing foreign capital inflows, MSCI said. “The MSCI decision to upgrade Qatar and UAE from frontier markets to emerging markets, with effect May 2014, reflects a growing realisation of how far these economies and their financial markets have developed in recent years,” said Sam Vecht, BlackRock’s head of the emerging markets specialist team and portfolio manager of the Frontiers Investment Trust. Equity index provider also said it is closely monitoring the situation in Egypt and in particular the country’s foreign exchange market. “MSCI may be forced to launch a public consultation on a potential exclusion of Egypt from the emerging markets index if the situation to worsen in the coming months.” MSCI further said it would reclassify Morocco and Greece as frontier market and emerging markets, respectively, in a move to lower their markets status. However, it maintained the emerging market status of Korea and Taiwan and will review their potential reclassification to developed markets as part of the 2014 annual market classification review. MSCI also initiating the review of China A-shares for potential inclusion in the MSCI Emerging Market Index. – muzaffarrizvi@khaleejjtimes.com Continue reading
