ABU DHABI: The remote work system in the United Arab Emirates has become a safety valve contributing to the preservation of the safety of society members and enabling them to perform their daily tasks and duties with ease and convenience.
Due to the weather conditions witnessed by the country, the UAE has implemented the remote work system for the third consecutive day on a wide scale, with great efficiency and success in maintaining business continuity and services at the highest level.
At the same time, remote learning has contributed to achieving sustainability in the educational process in all state schools and continuity in implementing curriculum plans to the fullest extent. The UAE has succeeded in building a flexible and future-oriented remote work system, becoming a global example in efficiency, effectiveness, and high readiness for any circumstances or changes.
Three main reasons stand behind the success of the remote work experience in the UAE, including legislative flexibility, the use of moder
n technology in performance monitoring and productivity, and the readiness of integrated digital infrastructure and the availability of smart electronic government services that help maintain communication continuity and service delivery.
Legislation and regulations
The UAE has prepared itself early on for the changes that the world may witness in terms of work methods and systems, whether remote or in-person, or concerning workdays and methods. To achieve this, it has equipped itself with the strongest and most effective digital systems to remain at the forefront of countries in this field. The UAE began implementing the remote work system in the federal government sector since 2017, initially through its trial application in some federal entities, and managed to measure its impact on productivity. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Cabinet Decision No. (27) of 2020 was issued regarding the remote work system in the federal government, under which remote work is also applied by federal entities under normal cir
cumstances. In 2021, the UAE introduced the first-of-its-kind virtual work residency visa in the region, allowing foreigners to enter the country under their personal sponsorship and stay for one year to practice their virtual job, subject to conditions and regulations issued with the visa.
Monitor performance and productivity
The Guide of Remote Working System in the Federal Government, issued by the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources, emphasises the need to monitor the implementation of remote work and document achievements by measuring the productivity of employees working remotely. This involves ensuring the quality and accuracy of outputs, setting time-frames for service delivery, task execution, and project delivery, and adhering to governance standards and cybersecurity controls when using various technological means to implement the remote work system, as well as any other controls deemed appropriate by the employer in this regard.
The performance of employees working remotely is eval
uated based on several criteria, including productivity, which is determined by the number of completed tasks out of the total targeted tasks and the quality of outputs in terms of accuracy in delivery and adherence to task completion within the specified time-frame. Additionally, the satisfaction rate of the direct supervisor and stakeholders with the completed work outputs is assessed based on agreed-upon criteria.
Advanced digital infrastructure
The government of the United Arab Emirates has launched the UAE Government Services Strategy, the Unified Digital Platform Policy, and the Digital User and Government Service Policy as part of its efforts to provide advanced digital services around the clock and anywhere.
The UAE government offers more than 6,000 federal and local online services across various sectors and areas related to daily life for community members.
According to the “Digital UAE – Facts and Figures 2023” report by the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority, the in
ternet user ratio in the country reached 99% of the population, enabling a high level of digital solution usage, whether in daily life or in government services.
The report highlights the performance of the official portal of the Government of the United Arab Emirates (U.ae) as the main reference for all information and services provided by all government entities. The portal is linked to 221 government entities offering 2,630 digital services, with the number of portal visitors reaching 19 million visitors during the year 2022.
It is worth mentioning that the United Arab Emirates ranked first regionally and fourth globally among the leading destinations for remote work attracting “digital nomads,” according to the classification of the “Visa Guide” website, which specialises in monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of visa systems supporting remote work patterns and the level of progress in providing a nurturing, enabling, and attractive environment for talents and minds in the digital field.
Sourc
e: Emirates News Agency