Main international conventions ratified by the UAE on workers rights since 1919
The United Arab Emirates is one of the largest countries receiving foreign labor, and is keen to continuously develop the protection of their rights, which is one of the most prominent national priorities in all its future strategies and plans. The State has thus ratified several major ILO conventions issued since 1919 related to workers’ rights in several areas.
The agreements included Convention No. 1 of 1919, which limits the working hours of industrial enterprises to 8 hours a day and 48 hours a week, and Convention No. 81 of 1947, concerning labor inspection in industry and trade. The Convention applies in industrial places to all workplaces where labor inspectors are assigned to implement the legal provisions relating to working conditions and the protection of workers in the course of their work.
The United Arab Emirates has also ratified Convention No. 89 of 1948 on night work for women, which prohibits the employment of women of any age in any public or private industrial establishment or in any of its branches, except for establishments in which only members of the same family are employed, in addition to Convention No. 100 of 1951 on the equal remuneration of workers for work of specific value without discrimination on the basis of sex, and Convention No. 105 of 1957 on the abolition of forced labor. It has decided to adopt some proposals concerning the prohibition of certain forms of forced or forced labor which constitute a violation of the human rights referred to in the Charter of the United Nations and identified by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Conventions include Convention No. 111 of 1957 on Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation, which provides for equal opportunities and equal treatment in respect of employment and occupation, using an approach that is appropriate to national circumstances and practices, with a view to eliminating any discrimination in this area, as well as Convention No. 138 of 1973 on the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, which aims to effectively eliminate child labor and to gradually raise the minimum age for employment or employment to a level consistent with the physical and mental development of juveniles. The United Arab Emirates has ratified Convention No. 182 of 1999 on the “Worst Forms of Child Labor” and the immediate action to eliminate them.
