On Nov. 3, a post on the NYU Abu Dhabi Facebook group NYUAD Forum brought up concerns that Abu Dhabi National Hotels Compass staff, who provide the food, beverage and hospitality services at NYUAD, were being mistreated by their supervisors. The post spawned a series of comments that also expressed concerns with the conditions for contracted staff on campus.

The following day, on the same Facebook group, sophomore Firas Ashraf posted a series of links and addresses where students could send their complaints to be investigated. These included an anonymous complaint form, a compliance reporting telephone number and an email address.

On Nov. 10, Ashraf posted a link to a Google form through which students could anonymously submit complaints that Ashraf would then take to the Office of Compliance and Risk Management.

Ultimately, four students’ complaints were submitted by Ashraf. For Ashraf, the resulting number was disappointing as he perceived that there was a gap between the initial enthusiasm by students and the eventual number of complaints.

“I can see how vocal [students] are and how compassionate [they] are, but there's a huge gap, and that gap means that less things could happen,” said Ashraf.

As many of the complaints revolved around subjective perceptions of mistreatment, for Ashraf the number of complaints was key to having the issue resolved.

Under the Supplier Code of Conduct, publically published for the first time on Oct. 31, any employer working for NYUAD is “expected to treat its employees humanely and with respect and dignity, pursuant to the NYU Code of Ethical Conduct.”

The NYU Code of Ethical Conduct further says, “Every member of the university is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender and/or gender identity or expression, marital or parental status, national origin, citizenship status, veteran or military status, age, disability and any other legally protected status, physically assaulting, emotionally abusing or harassing anyone.”

Chief Compliance Officer Erum Raza noted that in the case of disputes that center on qualitative breaches of contracts or the Supplier Code of Conduct, corroboration of claims is key.

“If we heard that a member of our contract staff was treated disrespectfully — either by a manager, or even by a member of the NYUAD community — we would look to interview others who work in the vicinity or to visit their place of work at times of days where the worker(s) have reported this has occurred,” wrote Raza.

Ashraf emphasized the importance of bringing these complaints to Compliance.

“[Complaints] should just be brought to Compliance, because being vocal on Facebook … is not going to help. It's great if you want to get the attention of other students and it's great if you want to inform the rest of our community, but you're not actually doing anything other than informing; taking action is so important and that's what … the Compliance team is there for,” said Ashraf.

“If a student (or any community member) hears something directly from a worker, the best thing to do is to encourage the worker to immediately contact their HR person on campus, file a report through their employer’s grievance mechanism, or contact the Office of Compliance and Risk Management directly,” Raza wrote, echoing Ashraf’s concerns.

In the case of the specific complaints aired over Facebook in November, the Office of Compliance had already been investigating similar complaints that centered on the same individual.

Alumna Kimi Rodriguez, Class of 2015, recollected the concerns she raised to the Office of Compliance during her senior year.

“A lot of students were concerned about [allegations of mistreatment] and we did voice it with various members of administration. We talked to Compliance about it, we talked to faculty about it, we talked to other students,” said Rodriguez.

Although Rodriguez did not see any changes during her time at NYUAD, remedies were pursued by Compliance, the extent of which are listed under the Supplier Code of Conduct. In the case that Ashraf was concerned with, staffing changes within ADNH management, which were encouraged by Compliance, will come into effect from Jan. 1, 2017.

The Office of Compliance constantly carries out a number of monitoring activities. These include worker interviews in their native or preferred languages, audits of human resources books and records as well as inspections of employer-provided accommodations. NYUAD interviews approximately 60 percent of all contracted workers annually. NYUAD also monitors contractors through over 100 Key Performance Indicators that ensures that contractors such as ADNH Compass, but also Serco and others, perform to appropriate standards.

Rodriguez reflected that a more holistic approach would help avoid these issues in the first place.

“I think you need to pull in a lot of stakeholders, not just putting it all on Compliance. So if there's a way to get ADNH involved … or to get them in the room … I think that's one of the biggest way to reach them,” said Rodriguez.

Other programs run by the Office of Social Responsibility work to integrate the contracted staff with the rest of the community on campus. These include being able to use facilities such as the gym and the bookroom, attend fitness classes as well as facilitate English classes and professional advancement opportunities.

For many students, including both Rodriguez and Ashraf, contracted staff have become friends.

“I think it's quite evident that staff members have become like family to students,” said Rodriguez.

For Ashraf, the relationship between contracted staff and students is part of daily life at NYUAD.

“We say hi to them, we talk to them, we know about their life … it's great that there are certain people we build relationships with, [and] we value them,” said Ashraf.

However, Ashraf also warned that this focus on particular staff members could leave other groups ignored by students.

“We also need to acknowledge [the] 800 [or] more staff [members], probably half of [whom] we haven't seen in our lives because they work night shifts or they work in the basements … so we have to be careful where [we] direct energy,” said Ashraf.

Rodriguez also warned that the system will never be perfect.

“These [compliance] mechanisms are valid, but, at the same time, implementing them and actually acting on these grievances can prove to be difficult,” said Rodriguez. “I think in an environment like NYUAD … it is difficult to navigate.”