What is the primary pre-requisite for employment?

An application must be made to the Ministry of Labour to employ any expatriate employee in the UAE. The application is to be approved by the Ministry of Labour before the employee enters the UAE. Employment permits are valid for three years subject to renewals for similar periods.

In the case of national employees, an employment contract may be entered into at any time. Employment contracts for non-nationals must be drawn in the format approved by the Ministry of Labour on an application made by the employer. Employment contracts for national employees need not, however, be in writing and the terms and conditions of employment may be proved by any means of proof admissible by law. A labour permit for an expatriate employee will not be issued by the Ministry of Labour unless a formal written labour contract is filed with the Ministry.

Source: U.A.E. Labor Laws

The facet of an employer employee relationship...

The law covers all facets of the employee-employer relationships (U.A.E. Labor Laws, Chapter 12). It governs all aspects of employment contracts, restrictions on the employment of juveniles and women, maintenance of records and files, wages, working hours, leave, safety and protection of employees, medical and social care, codes of discipline, termination of employment contracts, end-of-service benefits, compensation for occupational diseases, labor inspections, penalties and employment related accidents, injuries and fatalities.

Source: U.A.E. Labor Laws

Characteristic of a Limited Contract

• Has commencement and completion date;
• Terms cannot be more than the period of 4 years. It can be renewed through a mutual consent in a lesser period of time;
• Contract will be terminated at the end of the contract period, unless renewed by both parties (employee and employer);
• If the employer wish to terminate the contract for reasons other than those specified in Article 120 of the Law (U.A.E. Labor Laws), he shall be liable to pay compensation to the employee based on wages due to him/her.
• If the contract, however, is terminated by the employee for reasons other than those stated under Article 12l of the Law, the employee should be liable to compensate the employer against any loss resulting from the termination. The amount of compensation payable is calculated based on the employee’s salary for one month and a half or whichever is less.

What is Grievance in General?

A grievance is defined as a complaint by an employee about action which his or her employer or a colleague has taken or is contemplating taking in relation to him or her.
Excluded from this are the comments and actions taken by a manager in connection with an individual’s standard of conduct and performance (although bullying and harassment would be unacceptable).
Source: Dispute Resolution Regulations 2004

When can a contract of employment be terminated?

An employment contract can be terminated on the following reasons:

1. Both parties agree;
2. Contract term has come to an end (No extension is present);
3. No Notice from both sides (employer and employee) for unlimited contract;

Fixed term Contract - if terminated before its expiry compensation of up to 3 months’ remuneration may be due.

Unlimited Contract - may be terminated, for a valid reason, on at least 30 days’ notice in writing (subject to any greater period provided for in the Contract).

Daily paid employees are entitled to less notice, subject to the terms of their Contract.

The Contract can be added to a party’s rights under the Labour Law but it cannot remove or reduce any e.g. employer cannot reduce or waive the notice period but it can place the employee on a leave with full pay if there is a desire to remove him from the company immediately. Irrespective of any agreement to reduce the amount of notice that requires to be worked out both parties, the employee will be entitled to a payment in respect of the full notice period.

Information on Lay-off

In the present situation of UAE, companies had done massive lay-off due to global crisis. Organization terminated un-important position and employees thru lay-off action.

Employees, who have been lay-off, were paid for all their salaries, accrued vacation leave, gratuity and around 1 to 3 months financial assistance that solely depends on the company position in the market...

Any question regarding lay-offs, do not hesitate to leave a question…

Termination of Contract

There are two types of termination of contract:

1. Termination by Employer
2. Termination by Employee

Termination by Employer: As implemented rules all over the world, UAE employer is not so far different from other countries employers in terms of terminating employees contract however, there are some additional negative issues such as automatic banned of 6 months if contract terminated in less 3 years, and banned cannot be paid without NOC from previous employer, and other things associated e.g. positions, contract period, others...
Some of the causes of "Just termination by employer" are:
1. Unsatisfactory Performance and Negligence;
2. Insubordination;
3. Fraud and Falsification;
4. Employees' Conduct and Behavior; and more...

Termination by Employee: As implemented by the law in UAE, an employee wish to resign from the position is allowed to leave for as long that they give a minimum notice of 1 month to their employer/company.

Need to clarify more, please visit my site for guidance...

Vacation Leave

In UAE rules every employees whether staff, labour, or managers are entitled to receive 30 days of vacation leave with pay for every year of service of an employee with a provision that the employee had completed 1 year of continuous service in a company.