Dubai's Taqdeer Award, the world’s first-of-its kind points based reward system for recognising excellence in labour welfare practices and promoting best practices in labour welfare, has formed a technical committee, said its chairman.

Major General Obaid Muhair Bin Suroor, who is also the deputy director general of General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) in Dubai, explained that the technical committee includes Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE), Dubai Free Zone Council and Dubai Municipality.

It aims to spread the vision and mission of the Award to reach thousands of companies across Dubai to set international benchmarks in labour practices.

“I highly appreciate and would like to thank the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, Dubai Free Zone Council and Dubai Municipality, for their strong support and am confident that their cooperation will help us exceed our targets in terms of reaching out to companies. This year, as we have extended the award to include factories and free zones, in addition to construction companies, and we are expecting more than 200 participants,” said Major General Obaid, during the awareness workshops for companies.

More than 150 company representatives attended the workshops, organised at the MOHRE office and at Meydan Hotel, by MOHRE and the Dubai Free Zones Council respectively.

In its second edition, the award includes companies in construction sector, factories and free zones in Dubai, raising the number of workers targeted by the award to 1 million. In its first cycle, the award focussed on construction companies and included over 280 companies employing more than half a million workers.

The points based reward system will evaluate companies on the basis of essential fundamentals such as labour policies, occupational health; cultural and work environment factors such as communication, creativity and innovation, rules and regulations; as well as results based on labour perceptions and performance indicators.

Companies which get four and five-star rating will be given priority in awarding government projects.

Qasim Mohammed Jameel, director of Guidance, Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) said: “Taqdeer Award is another milestone in labour welfare initiatives in the UAE and will also enhance the relationship between companies and workers.  The awareness workshop aims to generate awareness among hundreds of companies regarding the criteria of the award and the benefits they get by participating. I am happy to work closely with the Taqdeer team to ensure that the message, vision, and mission of the award reaches maximum number of companies and workers in the second cycle.”

Dr Juma Al Matrooshi, assistant to the secretary general, Dubai Free Zone Council, said: “Taqdeer Award recognises the hard work of those who are playing an important role in the development of the nation.

The free zones constitute an important part of Dubai’s economy and have a significant share in the GDP and free zones require companies to adhere to high international standards.

“The opportunity for free zone companies to participate in Taqdeer Award will encourage them further to compete in providing maximum care and ensure welfare of their workers. This award is not an event for one year or two years, it is a continuous process, which will lead companies to set international standards, acknowledge excellence among companies and workers and enhance their competitiveness on an international arena. We are expecting a high participation from the free zone particularly as there has been a massive increase in awareness.”

There are over 338,000 workers in 34,000 companies in the free zones in Dubai, according to Dubai Statistics Centre. There are over 9,854 factories operating in Dubai in different categories and over 283 companies.

During the workshops, the participants were given details on the objectives of the award, along with the requirement criteria and procedural details to participate in the 2nd edition of the award. – TradeArabia News Service