UAEssentials | Ask The Law
Is three-year job ban legal?
I am a graduate and I have worked for a company for the past four years.
- Gulf News Report
- Published: 23:17 December 13, 2007
A reader in Dubai asks: I am a graduate and I have worked for a company for the past four years. My contract is unlimited and includes a special condition stating "After termination or expiry of the contract the employee shall not seek any job for three years from the date of termination." If I resign can my employer ban me for a year? Please tell me if such special conditions are in accordance with UAE Labour Law. My position does not give me direct contact with my company's client.
If such a condition as quoted by the questioner is included then it is violating Article 127 of the UAE Labour Law and the employer has been unfair. If we analyse the said article, we conclude it cannot be applicable for all employees, but is applicable for employees whose position allows them access to their company's business secrets or if they have direct contact with the company's clients. In this case the law states an article of "non-competition" to protect the employer and their confidential business information after expiry of the employee's labour contract.
However, the law determines that the minimum required age of the employee shall be 21 years at the time of signing the contract. Hence, as per such an article, the employer obligates the employee not to perform any competitive work after expiry of the contract, and the term of the ban will be in proportion to the company's interests only. Above all the court shall, in case the matter is referred to it, be the concerned party to estimate the reasonable term for this non-competition ban or if the employee will suffer long-term damage because of such a ban.
Questions answered by Advocate Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba of Al Bahr Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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