Who employs the workers, who directs them, and what sits with each side. A plain explanation of the manpower supply arrangement for contractors hiring in the UAE.
Manpower supply is often described as "hiring workers", which is misleading. The workers are not yours. A manpower supply company employs them, sponsors them and pays them, then supplies them to your site where your own supervisors direct the work. You add people to a project without adding them to your establishment.
Who Employs the Worker
The supply company does. At Active Labors Supply the workers stay on our visas and our payroll under a 100% MOHRE Employment Agency Licence. Every worker we deploy holds a legitimate UAE work visa, is paid through the Wage Protection System and is covered by medical insurance.
This matters commercially as well as legally. Your establishment headcount does not move. When the work finishes, the crew stands down and there is no residual employment cost sitting on your books.
Who Directs the Work
You do. The crew takes its instructions from your supervisors, works to your programme and follows your site rules and method statements. We do not supervise the work or take responsibility for the scope, and that distinction is what separates labour supply from outsourcing.
What Sits With the Supply Company
- Visa sponsorship and Emirates ID
- Medical insurance
- WPS payroll and wage compliance
- Accommodation and transport
- PPE
- Gratuity and end-of-service
- Exit formalities when the engagement ends
What Sits With You
- Daily tasks and work allocation
- Site supervision
- Programme and sequencing
- Site induction and site-specific safety
How a Request Is Filled
Tell us the trades, the numbers, the location and the duration. We match workers from a pre-screened, pre-documented pool, trade-test them against the scope they are being supplied for, and mobilise. Most requests are filled within 48 to 72 hours.
Crews are sized to the work rather than supplied as a fixed block. A phase needing twenty hands this month and five the next is staffed accordingly, and larger crews carry a lead hand or charge hand where the numbers warrant one.
The Compliance Position
Working with a licensed supplier protects the project. Active Labors Supply operates under a 100% MOHRE Employment Agency Licence, pays through the Wage Protection System, works within UAE Labour Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021), and holds ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018.
An unlicensed arrangement puts the liability on the party using the labour. It is worth confirming the licence before the first worker arrives, not after.
When Manpower Supply Is the Wrong Answer
If you want to hand over a whole function rather than add hands to your own crew, such as facility cleaning or warehouse operations with a supervised team and an agreed standard, that is outsourcing and it works differently. If you need the supervisors and engineers who run a workforce rather than the workforce itself, that is recruitment. Both are covered under our services.
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