Today: 21 June 2025
17 September 2021
3 mins read

UAE makes paradigm shifts in equal pay for both genders

The UAE has created a paradigm shift in closing the gap related to pay disparities between men and women in the same workplace or businesses of the same value over the last three years…reports Asian Lite News

Equal pay for men and women constitutes one of the critical components of respect for human rights and its commitment to strike a gender balance. The country was ranked 18th globally and 1st regionally in the Gender Inequality Index (GII) of the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Report 2020.

On Saturday, the UAE will join countries worldwide in celebrating International Equal Pay Day. It was approved by the United Nations, as an annual occasion to intensify efforts to empower women and girls and remove all obstacles to achieving equality between them and men in the labour market.

UAE makes paradigm shifts in equal pay for both genders

According to the World Bank’s 2021 “Women, Business and the Law” (WBL) report, the UAE has topped the MENA region rankings due to several legislative reforms related to women’s economic participation enacted over the last three years.

The annual report comprises eight indicators structured around women’s interactions with the law as they begin, progress through, and end their careers. The indicators are, Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension.

This year, the UAE achieved 82.5 points out of 100, compared to 56 scored in the report’s 2020 edition and 29 points in the 2019 edition. The UAE also achieved a complete score (100 points) in five indicators in the latest report: Movement, Workplace, Wages, Entrepreneurship, and Pension.

ALSO READ: UAE, UK Ink Landmark Deal To Tackle Illicit Financial Flows

The UAE was ranked first across the Arab world in the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report for 2021. The UAE also ranked first globally in four of the report’s indicators: women in parliament, gender ratio at birth, literacy rate, and enrolment in primary education.

The UAE Labour Law states, ”Female employees shall receive wages equal to that of males if they perform the same work or another of equal value.” The Decree of Federal Law No. 06 for 2020, stipulating equal wages for women and men in the private sector came into force in September 2020.

The UAE Labour Law provides for the abolition of all restrictions imposed on women working at night and working in complex jobs such as mining, construction, manufacturing, energy, agriculture and transportation, to give women the right to work in these industries. The law does not allow the employer to terminate a working woman’s services or warn her because of her pregnancy.

The law prohibits discrimination between employees regarding access to jobs and promotion and gender discrimination in jobs with the same job functions.

Emirati women maintained a remarkable presence in various business sectors; for example, females make up 64 percent of workers in the education sector, the same percentage of the total doctors, nurses and technicians in the health sector, and 31 percent of the total workers in the finance, banking and insurance activities.

The number of licenced companies owned by women is 80,025, while women constituted 21.5 percent of management positions and 32.5 percent of workers in specialised professions.

According to the UN, the General Assembly urged action to reach the goal of equal pay for work of equal value for all. It encouraged all stakeholders to continue to support the goal of equal pay for work of equal value.

Previous Story

Trucks carrying Iranian oil arrives in Lebanon

Next Story

Beijing, Tehran vow to strengthen cooperation

Latest from -Top News

IAEA sounds nuclear alarm in Iran

UN nuclear watchdog urges restraint, calls for diplomacy to prevent crisis. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, has issued a stark warning about the potential nuclear fallout

Trump says it’s hard to tell Israel to stop

President downplays European diplomacy as Israeli jets strike over 35 Iranian missile sites US President Donald Trump has said it would be “difficult” to ask Israel to stop its ongoing airstrikes on

War on Children Worsens, Says UN

The new high surpassed 2023, another record year, which itself represented a 21 per cent increase over the preceding year….reports Asian Lite News Violence against children in conflict zones soared to record

US weighs joining fight with Israel

Europe’s push for diplomacy is in sharp contrast to messages from Washington, with President Trump openly weighing bombing Iran  Iran’s foreign minister will meet in Geneva with counterparts from Germany, France and

Kremlin warns US against Iran strike

Putin revealed that Moscow had proposed several compromise frameworks to all involved parties — including the US, Israel, and Iran Washington would be making a serious mistake by launching an attack on
Go toTop

Don't Miss

UAE business delegation visits J&K

The Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is

3 Emirati armed forces members killed in Somalia

Authorities initially said three Emirati officers were killed and two