Ahmad Julfar, Director General of the Community Development Authority, chairing a meeting in his office.

Jamil Khan, Senior Reporter

The Community Develeopment Authority (CDA), Dubai, has adopted a remote-work policy for its employees which will allow them to work from their homes.

The step stems the spread of Covid-19 virus and is in line with the government's directives to ensure the health and safety of employees, their families, and customers.

The policy was given a green signal after the CDA organised an experimental phase during which several employees of the Authority worked remotely. Their performances during the trial phase were monitored and it was found that the system worked efficiently.

The Authority will now divide its employees into several teams and each will take turns to work remotely. This will avoid any kind of gathering, and thus enhance preventive measures. It will also allow the continuity of tasks that require physical presence of employees.

The Authority will impose this policy based on the roles of its employees and also on pregnant women, people with chronic diseases, people of determination and the elderly. Mothers with children in ninth grade or below will be one of the beneficiaries of the remote-work policy. They will also be permitted to use flexible hours.

Commenting on the remote-work system, Ahmad Julfar, Director General of the Community Development Authority in Dubai, stated that the Authority’s implementation of the system using advanced technology is practised globally which helps employees maintain a healty balance between their personal and professional lives.

Julfar further said that these technologies allow employees to effectively communicate with their colleagues and supervisors, and enable them to attend viral meetings, exchange documents and follow up on tasks smoothly.

The government of Dubai is taking several steps to fight the novel coronavirus. Its Executive Council recently outlined measures to ensure the health and safety of government employees including suspending fingerprint attendance machines and activating the 'Smart Employee' App or alternative attendance system.

It also allowed pregnant female employees, elderly employees, employees with disabilities and employees with diseases that compromise the immune system to work from home.

Employees returning from overseas trips have also been directed to stay at home until it is proven that they are not infected.

In such cases, they will receive their full salary and be allowed to work from home.

The measures have been taken in consideration of the needs of the family and community to deal with Covid-19 which has been declared a global pandemic by WHO.