Lost job in UAE and stuck in home country? Here's how to get your settlement

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Dubai - As an employee, you are entitled to end of service benefits if you were employed for more than one year.

By Ashish Mehta

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Published: Thu 3 Sep 2020, 2:51 PM

Last updated: Thu 3 Sep 2020, 4:43 PM

Question: I am currently in Nepal after losing my job in the UAE due to the pandemic. My company is saying that they can transfer my service benefits only to a UAE bank account and will not deposit it in my account in Nepal. Now I do not have mobile banking because my phone numbers are blocked, ATM card has expired and there is no loan under my name. How can I get my settlement which is above Dh17,000?
Answer:
Pursuant to your queries, we assume that you were employed by a company based in the mainland of UAE and therefore, the provisions of Federal Law No. (8) of 1980 Regulating Employment Relations in the UAE (Employment Law), the provisions of Ministerial Resolution No. (739) of 2016 Concerning the Protection of Wages (WPS Law) and the provisions of Regulation No. (29) of 2011 related to Regulations Regarding Bank Loans and Services Offered to Individual Customers are applicable.

As an employee, you are entitled to end of service benefits if you were employed for more than one year, in accordance with Article 132 of the Employment Law. The employer must also abide by the provisions of the WPS Law and the salaries of the employees have to be paid through the Wage Protection System (WPS). This is in accordance with Article 1 (a) of the WPS Law, which states: "All establishments shall pay the wages of its employees on the date of the maturity thereof through the WPS or any other systems resolved in this regard, and the employee's wage shall be due as of the day following the expiration of the term on which the wage is specified in the contract. If this term is not specified in the contract, his wage shall be paid once at least every two weeks".

However, the WPS Law is silent regarding payment of end of service benefits. In the UAE, the employer must provide to the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, the proof of payments to its employees through the WPS. Thereby the salaries and entitlements are transferred to the registered bank account of the employee in the UAE or deposited with an approved exchange house where the employer has registered the WPS and the same may be withdrawn by the employee.

Based on this, the employer may only transfer your end of service benefits to your bank account which is registered with WPS for payment of your salary in the UAE.

Therefore, if you are planning to return to the UAE you may withdraw your end of service benefits from your bank account upon your return. On the other hand, if you are not planning to return to the UAE you may send a written instruction in original to your bank to remit the credit balance in your account to your bank account in Nepal.

Further, it is recommended that you withdraw your end of service benefits at the earliest as keeping your bank account inactive for a long duration may lead to your bank account being classified as dormant.

Know the law
If you are not planning to return to the UAE, you may send a written instruction to your bank to remit the credit balance in your account to your bank account in your home country.

Ashish Mehta is the founder and Managing Partner of Ashish Mehta & Associates. He is qualified to practise law in Dubai, the United Kingdom and India. Full details of his firm on: www.amalawyers.com. Readers may e-mail their questions to: news@khaleejtimes.com or send them to Legal View, Khaleej Times, PO Box 11243, Dubai.



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