Work, Women, Tradition and the Law at the UAE

In Arab countries it is traditionally the father of the house who is the head and provider of the family. It is he who takes on jobs and business responsibilities. Male Emiratis are expected to provide well for their families. The young male members of the population add up to the labor force of the United Arab Emirates. But the UAE is an open country, hence it welcomes foreign labor, and it is not just male foreign labor that it has opened up to. In Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the two emirates that particularly have a fast growth rate, downtown areas and industrial zones teem with female expats—professionals in various industries, as well as female workers. The whole of UAE is not gender restrictive when it comes to foreign labor; but the opposite is true for Emirati women becoming workers. Traditionally, Emirati women are devoted home makers who faithfully take care of the needs of their children and husband and do household work. In other countries, wives, in the desire to help augment household income, also work for a living. They do their best to help their husband provide financial support to their family and children needs. Domestic work can be done by both of them or they hire house help to do this. In labor-exporting countries such as the Philippines, wives even leave their families to work in foreign shores, and the UAE is among their prime destinations.

 

The practice in other countries where women also work to help their husbands earn money now permeates the UAE society as foreign women come in droves for work. This has affected the mindset of the Emirati people and Government to some extent, thus, as far as gender aspects of labor are concerned, their tradition is now slowly changing. At first Arab women worked only as teachers and nurses, work closest in nature to motherly care, but in time, the number of their working women even in other fields like banking, finance, and the service sector, have started to build up. Emirati women now work side by side with foreign women workers in many fields. Foreign female labor is particularly strong in education, nursing, medicine, public relations, and hotel administration. There are also foreign female expats working in the UAE as stewardesses, information technology professionals, and as lawyers.

 

Local women in Arab countries have entered the workforce, most of them based in Dubai. Some employers find them more hardworking and more reliable than the average local working men, and at a little less pay. Women rising to positions of power and influence tend to come from a middle or upper level family status or organization. A requirement for Emirati women to rise to a position of influence at work is the support and approval of their family, especially the male members.

 

Despite the presence of female foreign workers and professionals in the Emirates, the majority—whether from western or eastern regions—are male. Their wives are prohibited from working as indicated in their passport. If their wives wish to work, they should obtain sponsorship and work out their visa using their own means. There are some employers accepting female foreigners who are wives of foreign workers, but their working terms would be illegal, and that is risky. One example is work as English tutors. This isn’t a major crime in Dubai though, but once caught, the company gets fined and the woman automatically loses her job.

 

Sexual harassment is severely punished in Arab countries, thus, women are generally safe in the workplace, but in recent times, the respect of the locals for foreign females got eroded to some extent with the entry of female tourists who practice prostitution. Foreign women workers should thus be extra careful in their movements. They must avoid getting close to and being friendly towards Arab men at work. Such actions may be misinterpreted as flirtation.

 

There is help for women under the fold of the law and through certain organizations. One of these is Cisco Connected Women, an organization launched in the UAE to render assistance services benefitting female workers and professionals. As per its mandate, this is a global program designed to create a human network of shared intelligence, best practices and rapport, built upon in an open community which offers female employees opportunities for development, networking, and philanthropic activities. It also offers a program of activities in mentoring, career advice, work-life balance, and personal development. It offers programs and resources that help women to develop their skills as individual contributors, managers and executives.

 

For sure, in this age and time, notwithstanding certain traditional aspects in the UAE society, women have clearly become great contributors to the Emirates’ work force.