Council of Ministers and Ministerial Resolutions

on Collective Labour Disputes

Council of Ministers Decisions

Council of Ministers Order No. (11) year 1982

Ministers Decisions

Ministerial resolution No. (307) for the year 2003

 Council of Ministers Order No. (11) year 1982

In the affair of organizing prosecution and other rules necessary to

the good proceeding of work before conciliation Boards and the
Supreme Arbitration Board to determine group labour disputes

Council of Ministers:
After taking cognizance of the provisional constitution,
the Federal law No. (1) of the year 1972 about the affair of ministries
jurisdictions, ministers powers and the laws amending them,
and the Federal law No. (8) of the year 1980 in the affair of organizing
labour relations,
and pursuant to the offer of Minister of labour and Social Affairs and
inspection of opinion of Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and
Endowments,

The First Topic

In Conciliation Boards
Article (1)
Organizing the articles mentioned in this topic the rules, and
proceedings applied before each conciliation Board which is referred
to in this topic by the Board,
Article (2)
The location of the Board meeting is the labour office located in the
location of the two dispute parties; so if the Board chairman is the
director of labour relations directorate, the Board meeting location
shall be in the Ministry location in Abu Dhabi or Dubai depending on
conditions, and Board meeting shall not be true without the
attendance of all members as well as the chairman.
Article (3)
The Board shall ask the opinion of whomever profecients and
employers it decides during dispute inspection,

Article (4)
The Board chairman shall decide a session to inspect the dispute
provided that the session appointment doesn’t exceed in maximum
the Fourth day after the date arriving the labour department
interested in referring the dispute to the Board, and two dispute
parties shall be notified at least three days before the decided
session appointment,
Article (5)
The Board shall issue its order in the dispute during two weeks from
the date of referring the dispute to it,
and the Board orders shall be issued by considering the majority of
opinions of the members and the Board order shall be binding for
both the parties if they approve in writing accepting its order, and in
this case a register shall be written including the issues agreed on, it
shall be mentioned in it the period of the agreement effectiveness at
least for two years, the register shall be in four copies signed by the
Board chairman and the dispute parties and the applying register
form shall be written in the register by a command from judge of the
interested court located in the circle of the conciliation Board that
determines the dispute,
The Board’s secretariat general shall deliver a copy of the register to
each party of the dispute parties after writing the applying form in it,
and the third copy shall be kept with the Board, and the fourth copy
shall be sent to labour department to keep it in a special record, and
all interested parties shall have the right to request a copy or a
transcript of the mentioned register in accordance with the conditions
decided by the labour department
Article (6)
If any of the two dispute parties doesn’t approve the Board order, it
shall have the right to appeal against the decision in front of the
supreme arbitration Board during thirty days from the date of the
decision issue; otherwise, the decision shall be final and obligatory
and the party whom the decision was issued for his benefit shall have
the right to ask the Board to write a register of that and the following
proceedings shall be similar to rules of the previous article,
Article (7)
The Board in all circumstances whether it issued its decision partially
or completely or if the decision was delayed more than the period
decided in the first paragraph of the fifth article shall present a report
to labour department interested in its work result, and the decision
shall include the Board report about the considerations led to make
the dispute, the surrounding circumstance and the suggestions the
Board presented to conciliate them.

Second Topic
About the Supreme Arbitration Board

Article (8)
Organizing the articles mentioned in this topic and the applicable
rules and proceedings before the supreme arbitration Board,

Article (9)
The meeting of the Supreme Arbitration Board shall be in the location
of the labour department where the work location of dispute parties is
located in its circle or any other suitable place the Board decides, and
the meeting shall not be considered true without the attendance of all
its members as well as the chairman or his representative; everybody
except the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs and the Judge of the
Federal Supreme Court, who is a member of the Supreme Arbitration
Board shall take oath before the Minister of Labour and social Affairs
so as to perform their missions without fear or partiality,

Article (10)
The appeal shall be presented to the Supreme Arbitration Board in a
pleading signed by the appellant and including reasons of the appeal
and the documents leading to it attached, and this shall be within the
period indicated in the article No. (6) and the Board secretariat
general shall notify the appelee with a copy of the pleading within
seven days from the date of presenting it,
and the appellee shall give this Board’s secretariat general a pleading
of defense coupled with the supporting documents within two weeks
from the date of notifying him with a copy of the appeal pleading.
 Article (11)
The chairman of Supreme Arbitration Board shall decide a session
whose appointment doesn’t exceed fifteen days from the date of
arrival of the dispute parties’ dispute in a registered letter or any other
suitable way the chairman of the Supreme Arbitration Board decides
at least three days before the date of the session,

Article (12)
The Supreme Arbitration Board determines the presented dispute
within one month from the date of the first session, and it shall issue
its decision depending on the majority of its members opinions, and
its decision shall be grounded, and considered final and binding to
the two dispute parties,

Article (13)
The Supreme Arbitration Board shall decide hearing whomever
witnesses it decides after making them take oaths and to delegate
whomever proficient it decides, and it also shall have the right to view
work places, inspect all documents and papers concerned in the
dispute and do all proceedings that help it in determining the dispute,

Article (14)
The Minister of Labour and Social Affairs if he is not the chairman of
the Board which issued the decision nor any of the two parties, shall
have the right to request an interpretation or explanation of any issue
in the arbitration decision if it is necessary,
And the Supreme Arbitration Board shall issue its decision with the
interpretation after listening to both the dispute parties if it believed it
is necessary, and the two parties shall be notified with the decision
the Board issued, and the interpretation shall be considered a
complementary part of the original arbitration decision,

Article (15)
The chairman and the two members of the Supreme Arbitration
Board shall obtain a monthly reward of two thousand Dirhams, and
the chairman alternative in addition to the two alternative members
shall obtain five hundred Dirhams as a reward against each session
provided that this doesn’t exceed two thousand Dirhams monthly,
the secretary general shall obtain a reward of six hundred Dirhams
monthly,

Third Topic
General Rules

Article (16)
The advocates shall not be allowed to attend with the dispute parties
before the conciliation Board, but they are allowed to attend before
the Supreme Arbitration Board provided that they are licensed
pursuant to legal profession organizing law No. (9) of the year 1980.

Article (17)
The employees who are a party of the dispute shall be prohibited
from stopping working neither completely nor partially because of the
dispute during inspecting it before conciliation Board or the Supreme
Arbitration Board, in addition, the employer shall be prohibited from
closing the establishment completely or partially for the same reason,
Article (18)
The Minister of Labour and Social Affairs shall apply this order and
make it effective from the date of announcing it in the official gazette.

Prime Minister
 Ministerial resolution No. (307) for the year 2003

Concerning the collective Labour disputes

Dated on 31/5/2003

Minister of Labour & Social Affairs:

• At sight the federal law no. (1) for the year 1972
concerning the specialties of the ministries and the offices
of the ministers and its amendments thereof.
• And the federal law no. (8) for the year 1980, regulating
the relations of labour and its amendments thereof.
• And the cabinet resolution no. (11) for the year 1982,
regulating the procedures of solving the collective labour
disputes.
• And the ministerial resolution no. (48/1) for the year 1980,
forming committees of reconciliation to reconciliate the
collective disputes.
• And pursuant to what has been shown by the
undersecretary.
• And for the sake of the public interest.

Does hereby order the following

Article One
The collective labour dispute is any discord between the master and
his workers and its subject relates to a joint interest for all the workers
or some of them in a foundation, an occupation, a craft of a specific
sector.

Article Two
The masters and the workers have to solve their collective disputes
through the direct negotiation, medium, reconciliation and then
arbitration according to the procedures mentioned in this resolution.

Article Three
The master or the workers has / have to inform the authorized labour
department of a labour dispute on paper in the same day.
If it is difficult to do this, then the aforementioned department must be
directly informed in the next labour day. Stopping the work or shutting
the foundation is not allowed in the violation of the rules of this article
To be continued ….. (2)
(2)
Article Four
If the reconciliation of the dispute, thought the direct negotiation, has
failed between the two parts within utmost one week from the date of
taking place, then the two parts have a right to ask for the medium of
the manager of the authorized labour department to reconciliate it.
The manager can willingly summon the dispute parts to appear
before him and to start the required procedures of the medium to
solve the dispute.

Article Five
If the dispute is due to the nonpayment of the wages deserved by the
workers or violating the duties of the master or the workers imposed
by the federal law no. (8) for the year 1980 or its executive registers,
then the manager has to take the legal required procedures for
executing the rules of the law.

Article Six
And taking into account what is mentioned in article (5), if the
reconciliation of the dispute has failed within ten days from the date of
its taking place, then the department manager has to transfer the
dispute to the arbitration committee to settle it notify the two parts.

Article Seven
If the reconciliation of the dispute has been successful through the
medium, then the department manager has to write a three copy
record of the matters agreed upon, and its is to be signed by the
department manager, the workers and the master. The agreement is
to become valid for a period agreed upon by the two parts and it must
at least be two years.
 Reconciliation

Article Eight
Once the manager of the authorized labour department is informed of
labour dispute, he has to form an arbitration committee headed by
him and to be as follows:

1) The manager of the labour department President

2) A member from the chamber of commerce
in the area or any representative Member
chosen by the master – the dispute part.

To be continued …. (3)

(3)
3) A member from the coordination
society of the vocational societies chosen Member
by the workers the dispute part.
4) One of the legal experts as a reporter and
an advisor. His vote is uncounted.

Article Nine
The master and the workers, the two parts of the dispute, should
nominate a representative for the membership of the arbitration
committee to represent them once the manager of the labour
department calls for them.

Article Ten
The reconciliation committee is concerned with reconciliating the
collective disputes transferred to it by the manager of the labour
department to apply the procedures and rules mentioned in the
federal law no. (8) for the year 1980 and the cabinet resolution no.
(11) for the year 1982 above referred to.

Article Eleven
The president of the committee can call for any of the workers or the
persons, disputes part, or the specialists to discuss with them in front
of the committee and it is allowed to get informed about the
documents, papers, records and all the evidence and oblige their
possessors to submit them. The committee is also permitted to enter
the foundation to make the procedures of the required investigation
and to decide the procedures determine the discord.

Article Twelve
The manager of the labour relations department in the two divans of
the ministry according to each one’s of specialization takes the
charge of the presidency of the reconciliation committee in any of the
following cases:
A) If the labour seat of the dispute parts is in specialty of
more than one labour department.
B) Any case in which the authorized undersecretary decides
this.

Article Thirteen
Without detriment to the cabinet resolution no. (11) for the year 1982
referred to, If the resolution of the reconciliation committee has failed
to solve the discord, then it is allowed to any request to transfer the
dispute to the arbitration within thirty days from the date of its issue
and The authorized labour department is allowed to automatically
transfer the dispute to the arbitration.
To be continued …… (4)

(4)
Article Fourteen
Stopping the work or closing the establishment because of a labour
discord is not permitted before using up all the ways of solving the
collective dispute mentioned in this resolution.

Article Fifteen
If the labour dispute took place because of the violation of the master
or the workers to the clauses of the agreement resulted from the
medium or the reconciliation, then the labour department has to take
the essential, legal procedures to execute the rules of the law and its
executive registers.
 Article Sixteen
It is considered a causer of the collective dispute and liable according
to the valid laws in the state, domestically and federally:
- Anyone who violates a clear text of the law’s and its
executive registers, if the discord breaks out because of
this violation.
- Anyone who breaks an agreement resulted from the
medium or reconciliation.
- Anyone who doesn’t respond to any request or order of
summoning issued by the manager of the labour
department or the reconciliation committee.
- Anyone who doesn’t commit to the resolution of the
reconciliation committee, despite his approved of
accepting its resolution on paper.
- Anyone who doesn’t commit to the resolution of the
reconciliation committee, after it has become valid, even if
he hasn’t agreed on paper.
- Anyone who doesn’t commit to the resolution of the
Higher reconciliation committee.
- Anyone who violates the procedures mentioned for
executing the resolution of the arbitration and
reconciliation committees.

Article Seventeen
Applying all the penalties mentioned in the federal law no.(8) for the
year 1980 referred to, and its executive registers concerning the
violations of this resolution as well as the penalties unmentioned in
the federal and local laws which are valid in the state.

Article Eighteen
Canceling the ministerial resolution no.(48/1) for the year 1980
referred to.
To be continued ….. (5)

(5)
Article nineteen
This resolution shall be published in the official news paper and it
becomes valid after thirty days from the date of issue.
 Matter Humaid Al Tayer
Minister of Labour & Social Affairs