Recruitment fee refund must if worker resigns before contract ends in UAE

Abu Dhabi - The ministry also explained that the guarantee period between the employer and the recruitment firm has been extended to two years.

Recruitment agents in the country will now be required to refund the fee that has been paid by an employer for hiring a support worker - in case the employee decides to end his or her service without a genuine reason, according to authorities.
The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation on Wednesday (April 10) announced that it has started the implementation of the new rules that were recently issued by the Cabinet. These require the recruitment firms to issue a full or partial refund of the agency fee that an employer has paid, if the hired employee resigns or ends the service before the end of a two-year contract.
The ministry also explained that the guarantee period between the employer and the recruitment firm has been extended to two years.
Khalil Khoury, Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, said: "The new regulations provide for the recruitment agents to refund full or part of the recruitment costs paid by the employer on hiring a support worker in case the employee doesn't complete the two-year contract."
He said the agent will have to refund full recruitment costs if a worker chooses to end his or her contract during the six-month probation period and without a genuine reason acceptable by the law, which may include illness or being physically unfit to carry out duties. The agent may also provide the firm with another worker, if the employer requests them to.
"And if the worker resigns after the six-month probation period but before the end of the two-year contract, the refundable amount will be calculated depending on the remaining period towards the end of the contract," Khoury said.
"For example, if an employer paid the recruitment agency Dh15,000 for hiring a support worker and the employee resigns after 15 months of service, the agent will be refunding Dh5,625 to the employer for the remaining nine months of the worker's contract."
Khoury said recruitment firms are obliged to refund the cash to the employer within a period not exceeding one month, from the date of returning the worker to the recruitment office or upon reporting that a worker has decided to end his service.
Recruitment firms will be exempted from issuing refunds if the firm had identified the worker and decided to hire him under a recruitment firm.
The new rules are part of an integrated system that has been set up for the proper regulation of recruitment firms' services. These aim to ensure that good services are provided and negative practices are prevented, according to the ministry.
Key points of new rules for recruitment agents
>Full refund of agency fee must be issued if the employee resigns, without an acceptable reason, during the six-month probation
>Partial refund must be issued if the worker resigns after the probation but before the end of the two-year contract
>Refund will be calculated based on the number of months remaining towards the end of the contract
>Refund must be issued within a month, upon reporting that a worker has decided to end his service
ismail@khaleejtimes.com
 
 

• Abu Dhabi