Work in free zone if you quit in 6 months

In the UAE, you may find a new job in the free zone, but not in the mainland companies if you have quit your employment within six months.

In April last year, I resigned from a non-free zone company. I worked there for only five months. I then got another job offer in DIFC FZ and was given a visa in May. My visa was cancelled two weeks ago.
I got a job with a local bank in Dubai. However, when they tried to apply for MoL approval, it showed that I had a one-year ban. I tried to go to MoL and the immigration to explain my situation and ask that the ban be removed, but in vain.
In the five months that I worked for the non-free zone company, I never had any problems. They gave me an NOC to request that the ban be lifted and I am in possession of a letter from immigration showing that my last entry to the UAE was as recent as January 6.
All the papers are currently with my employer's PRO, but they said they need to speak to Labour Department about the issue.
Am I right in assuming that since I worked with my previous company for only five months, and since I have a free zone visa and have travelled in and out of the UAE without any problems from immigration, I should not be liable to any sort of ban? I just don't understand why the issue is very difficult to fix.
It is understood that you resigned from the mainland company based in UAE after working for five months. Thereafter, you were employed in a company based at Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC) since May 2016 and further on, you cancelled your visa two weeks back as you found new employment with a local bank at Dubai. However, your prospective employer was unable to get the employment approval from the Ministry of  Human Resources and Emiratisation (the 'Ministry') as there is an employment ban of one year imposed on you.
Further, it is understood the first company from where you had resigned after working for five months had issued you a No Objection Certificate stating that no
employment ban would be imposed on you, and your last entry to UAE is on January 6, 2017.
Pursuant to your queries, we understand that there is an employment ban imposed by the Ministry on you for a period of one year. One should, however, note that there is a difference between an employment ban and a ban by the General Directorate for Residency & Foreigners Affairs.
If you are undergoing an employment ban, you can visit the UAE but cannot be employed until the employment ban has been lifted/expired. But if you are imposed with an immigration ban, you cannot enter the UAE.
Further, an employee must work for at least six months with an  employer to avoid an employment ban. This is in accordance with Article 1 of Ministerial Decree 766 of 2015 regarding rules and conditions for granting a permit to a worker for employment by a new employer.
from a mainland company, even though your termination is mutually agreed with your employer.
Article 1(I) 2 (if limited contract) and (II) 1 (if unlimited contract) of Ministerial Decree 766 of 2015 regarding Rules and Conditions for granting a permit to a worker for employment by a new employer which states that: "The worker and employer mutually consent to terminate the contract during the course of its term, provided the worker has completed a period of no less than six months with the employer; the latter provision is waived for workers that qualify for skill levels 1, 2 and 3, as per the ministry's classification."
The only option to lift your current employment ban is through the aforementioned skill levels. This is in accordance with Article 4 of the Ministerial Order No. 1186 of 2010 on "Rules and Conditions of Granting a New Work permit to an Employee after Termination of the Work Relationship in Order to Move from One Establishment to Another", which states: "As an
exception to the provision of the Item No. 2 of Article 2 of this resolution, the ministry may issue a work permit to an employee without requiring the two-year period in the following cases:
(a) In the event that the employee is starting his new position at the first, second or third professional levels after fulfilling the conditions for joining any of these levels according to the rules in force at the Ministry, and provided that his new wage is not less than Dh12,000 at the first professional level, Dh7,000 at the second professional level and Dh5,000 at the third professional level...." It is assumed that you are a graduate and therefore, you fall under the purview of the first professional level, under which Dh12,000 monthly salary is required to take up new employment or lifting of the existing employment ban.
(b) Certain professionals are exempted from imposition of an employment ban during change of employment from one employer to another. This is in accordance with Article 2 of the Ministerial Order No. 13 of 1991 on 'The organisation of the transfer of sponsorships of non-national employees the rules governing the same', which states: "Non-national employees may be allowed to transfer one job to another and hence transfer of their sponsorship if they fall under the following categories:
(a) Engineers
(b) Doctors, pharmacists and male and female nurses
(c) Agricultural guides
(d) Qualified accountants and acc-ount auditors
(e) Qualified administrative officials
(f) Technicians operating on electronic equipment and laboratories
(g) Drivers who are licensed to drive heavy vehicles and houses."
Based on the foregoing your prospective employer may apply for lifting the employment ban.
Airfare after two years employment
I have been with my current non-free zone PR company for almost two years, having begun work with them in March 2015. As part of my contract, my employer is obligated to provide me with a flight-home (to the UK) every two years. I do, however, plan to resign in April or May this year to join another locally-based company. If I do so before taking the trip back home, is the company obligated to give me the value of the flight? Or if I resign, will they get me the flight home anyway?
Pursuant to your queries, you are eligible for airfare to be paid to you post completion of two years of continuous employment with your current employer. This is in accordance with Article 131 of the Federal Law No. 8 of 1980 regulating Employment Relations in the UAE (the "Employment Law") which states: "An employer shall, on the termination of an employee's contract, defray the cost of returning him to the district from which he was recruited or to any other place agreed upon between the two parties. Where after the termination of his contract, an employee enters the service of another employer, the latter shall defray the employee's travelling expenses on the termination of his service."
Subject to the provisions of the preceding sentence, if the employer fails to return the worker or to defray his travelling expenses, the competent authorities shall do so at the employer's expense and may then recover any expenditure incurred in this connection by attachment.
Ashish Mehta is the founder and Managing Partner of Ashish Mehta & Associates. He is qualified to practise law in Dubai, the United Kingdom, Singapore 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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