Employees not to pay recruitment fees

Q) I am a Masters Degree holder (certificate is attested by UAE and Indian ministries). I was working in Dubai and because of family health problems I had to return to India a week after joining a UAE company.

I resigned on reaching India. As per the contract, I was supposed to pay the recruitment costs, but I had no money to repay. Please let me know if I will now be treated as an absconder and will I get a life ban from the UAE, or the GCC.

Employees are not required to make any payments in respect of recruitment fees as it is opposed to the law, and as such employers are required to give an undertaking in that respect in accordance with Article 6 clause (a) of Ministerial Order No (52) of 1989 (on ‘The Rules and procedures to be adopted at the Labour permit sections with respect to the recruitment of non-national labours for employment in UAE’) which states: “The employer or its legal representative shall sign the recruitment application form prepared by the Ministry for this purpose, such a form shall include the following undertakings: (a) An undertaking from the employer to the effect that he shall sponsor and be responsible for the recruited labourer, the bearing of his recruitment expenses and his employment in accordance with the employment contract in a way not prejudicing the provision of the Federal Law No (8) of 1980 referred to herein....”

Since you sent your resignation to your employer after your return to India, there should be no bona fide reason for your employer to declare you as an absconder in the UAE. In the event your employer did file an absconding complaint against you at the Ministry of Labour, you may appoint a legal representative and issue a duly notarised and legalised power of attorney to such legal representative who will represent you before the Ministry of Labour for dropping the absconding complaint filed against you by your employer at the Ministry of Labour.

No life time ban should be imposed on you from working in the UAE or the GCC, based on the details stated in your question.

Contract extension
Q) I have been working in a government company for five years. My salary has not been increased even by one fil. Initially, my contract was for two years and later it was extended for another year. After that, no contract extension letter was provided. Professionally, I am an engineer, but my visa is that of a technician. Is it legal to work without the contract extension? What about a salary increase? Is there any law for such cases?

Your employment is governed by the provisions of the Federal Law Decree No. 11 of 2008 on human resources in the federal government (the “Federal Law”).

It is understood that after the expiry of the last contract period, you have not received any confirmation regarding renewal of your employment contract or any notice regarding its non-renewal. Pursuant to this, it may be assumed that your employment contract has automatically been renewed on the same terms and conditions as those of the previous employment contract. This is because, a decision of non-renewal or revocation of contract is required to be made known to the employee through a written notice about such a decision having been made in accordance with Article 110 of the Federal Law which states: “The Minister or whom he delegates shall be entitled not to renew the special contracts or revoke the same prior to end of its period at any time provided the employee should be granted a written notice about the same as per the conditions provided for thereof.”

Salary increase, allowances and promotions are pursuant to Article 31 of the Federal Law which states:

“1. Performance of employees shall be appraised annually by the immediate superior provided the employees share the process of review performance related to them;

2. The annual appraisal of the employee will affect the entitlements of the employee related to periodical allowances, promotions and annual rewards;

3. The system of management of performance shall determine the requirements and conditions of granting rewards provided for in this Decree law.”

Ashish Mehta, LLB, F.I.C.A., M.C.I.T., M.C.I.Arb., is the founder and Managing Partner of Ashish Mehta & Associates, a legal consultancy firm in Dubai. He also practises in India, United Kingdom and Singapore. He has worked with international and commercial legal procedures, providing analysis and counselling on complex legal documents and policies such as commercial transactions, securitisation, real estate acquisitions, financial restructuring for distressed assets, mergers and acquisitions, arbitration and litigation issues. Readers may e-mail their questions to: news@khaleejtimes.com or send them to Legal View, Khaleej Times, PO Box 11243, Dubai.