Dubai:
Skilled and unskilled Indian workers in the UAE will now be guaranteed a minimum wage around 40-50 per cent higher than the present levels, India's ambassador to the UAE has confirmed.
The minimum wage for 36 categories of workers who want to work in the UAE came into effect on Tuesday and will apply to new recruits in the country, said MK Lokesh. "Minimum wage has always been in place, and we have just upgraded it. This is for our reference when companies come to us for new attestation," he told PTI.
While the previous minimum wage level, fixed several years ago, ranged from around Rs.7,400 to Rs.12,450 (600-1,000 dirhams), the new increased level will be from around Rs.11,833 to Rs.17,250 (950-1,400 dirhams). According to Lokesh, this is a pre-condition set by the embassy to attest the job contracts of Indian workers who hold ECR [Emigration Clearance Required] passports.
According to the new list released by the embassy, the minimum wage of Rs.13,700 (1,100 dirhams) for housemaids fixed in February 2008 has not been changed. "Housemaids are treated as a separate category even in India and are governed by a separate set of regulations. For example, no one below the age of 30 can come here as a housemaid," he added.
However, the minimum wage for cleaners, fishermen, gardeners, farm workers, office boys, waiters and washer men has been increased to Rs.11,830 (950 dirhams) per month. Helpers, technicians and skilled traders will also get a minimum of Rs.11,830 (950 dirhams) and sign-painters and drivers Rs.16,300 (1,300 dirhams). All other categories of workers will get Rs.17,439 (1,400 dirhams).
Lokesh said that Indian embassies and missions abroad cannot impose minimum wages nor can they make them mandatory. "It is for the local government to ensure this. We can only prescribe a minimum wage for a certain category," he added.
Indians who have not passed matriculation (Grade 10) hold ECR passports and need clearance from the Protector of Emigrants [POE] of the Government of India to work abroad on an employment visa. The POE gives the emigration clearance based on the attestation of relevant documents by Indian Embassies or Consulates.