Dubai – Mubasher: Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), a flagship free zone of DP World, announced it will be the first free zone in the UAE to return cash and bank guarantee to its clients via its new Workforce Protection Programme initiative.

The new initiative is scheduled to roll out next September, aiming to facilitate doing business and to support Jafza’s customers, according to a press release.

Under the Workforce Protection Programme, the company will cater employees with additional benefits and invest AED 1.3 billion back into Dubai’s economy, Jafza highlighted.

The decision aims at bolstering the development objectives set by Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, to improve worker rights and protections under the UAE Government’s insurance initiative.

Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, chairman of the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation and the Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority said: “Jafza welcomes the UAE government’s latest initiative as it will play a significant role in taking the country in the right direction.”

“Our people are our greatest assets, and we are committed to providing them with a fair work environment that ensures they receive all the rights, privileges, and protections that should be afforded to them as core contributors to the nation’s economy,” Bin Sulayem added.

“Through the Workforce Protection Programme, we are striving to raise standards for the UAE’s private sector by providing businesses with a model they can emulate successfully and help fulfil the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum as outlined in his 50 Year Charter,” he noted.

The new programme will enable companies to use insurance coverage to protect the workers in case of wage default by their employers, Jafza said.

This coverage will be offered to all existing Jafza sponsored employees and will be applied by default to any new workers once they get their work visas, the release added.