UAEssentials | Ask The Law
May 6, 2006
Questions answered by Salah Mohammad Kamal Al Bakri of Advocates Without Frontiers Advocacy and Legal Consultancy.
- Published: 00:00 May 5, 2006
An Abu Dhabi reader asks: "I have heard about a newly introduced visa allowing certain professions to work in the UAE for up to six months without a job contract. What is it and who are the professionals entitled to have it?"
Expatriate doctors, engineers, lawyers and technicians are entitled to obtain the newly introduced Mission Entry Visa, according to an Interior Ministry decision.
Under the decision issued by Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Interior, the visa will be issued to those who come for temporary jobs with the permission of the Labour Ministry.
It is issued for three months for a fee of Dh600 and can be renewed for another three months for an additional fee of Dh1,200, also with the permission of the Labour Ministry.
The decision also entitles these professionals as well as businessmen; company managers, representatives and sales managers; auditors and representatives of companies who visit the country for business to obtain Mission Entry Visas for 14 days.
This visa allows the holder to enter the country once during its validity and to stay for a maximum of 14 days, the decision said.
The 14-day Mission Visa is not renewable and the application for it must be submitted by an authority or company operating in the country at least 48 hours before the arrival of the visitor.
The grace period for the renewal or departure of a visitor on a 90-day visa will be seven days, according to the decision which takes effect immediately.
In all categories qualified for the visa, visitors may bring their wives and children.
The issuance of Mission Entry visas is restricted to establishments operating in the oil industry and any other establishment or sector specified by a decision of the Minister of Labour.
But Dr Ali Bin Abdullah Al Ka'abi, Minister of Labour, said the facilities will also be granted to other projects soon.
Workers brought in must be provided health care and paid sick leave by the company.
A Sharjah reader asks: "Workers' rights are often being abused by their managers using illegal disciplinary actions in many companies here.
My company does not have disciplinary codes and all disciplinary measures taken by the employer are done in a personal manner. They are not based on a company code or the labour rules. What are the disciplinary rules under the Labour Law?"
Under the labour law, companies must have a disciplinary code that must be communicated to workers.
Under the labour Law, the code should provide for progressive penalties that include a warning, a fine, suspension from work with reduced pay for a period not exceeding 10 days.
The rules also provide for forfeiture or deferment of a periodic increment, forfeiture of promotion, dismissal without prejudice to severance pay.
End of employment with forfeiture of all or part of the severance pay is a maximum penalty which may only be imposed on the grounds expressly specified in article 120 of the labour law.
A fine shall not exceed five days' remuneration, and it shall be illegal to deduct more than five days' remuneration in any one month from a worker's remuneration in payment of fines imposed on him.
The penalty of forfeiture of a periodic increment may not be imposed more than once in any year, and such an increment may not be deferred for more than six months.
It shall be illegal to impose the penalty of forfeiture of promotion for more than one promotional step.
No disciplinary penalty may be imposed on a worker for any act committed by him outside the workplace, unless such act is connected with the work, the employer or the responsible manager.
It shall be illegal to impose more than one penalty or to combine a disciplinary penalty with a deduction of part of the worker's remuneration.
A worker may not be dismissed until after he has been notified in writing of the charge against him, his statements have been heard, he has been allowed to defend himself and the foregoing has been entered in a report placed in his personal file. The penalty shall be entered at the end of this report.
A worker shall be notified in writing of any penalties imposed on him, and of the nature and amount thereof, the reasons for their imposition, and the penalty to which he will be liable in the event of a repetition of the offence.
No worker may be charged with a disciplinary offence more than 30 days since the offence was discovered, nor may a disciplinary penalty be imposed more than 60 days from the date on which the inquiry into offence ended and the worker's guilt was established.
A reader in Fujairah asks: "What are the new sponsorship rules for housemaids and do these rules allow housemaids to transfer their sponsorships?"
Housemaids and other domestic labourers are now allowed to transfer their sponsorships for up to three months, according to a decision by the Interior Ministry.
The decision by Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Interior, also spares these workers from the year-long ban if they complete their job contract.
Under the decision which took effect from February 1, only housemaids and other domestic workers who fail to complete their job contract will be banned for one year from the date their visa is cancelled.
These workers will also be allowed to transfer sponsorships once for up to 90 days.
The privilege will be granted only if the domestic help complete their job contract and give a notice of at least 30 days before the end of the contract. These two conditions can be scrapped if the original sponsor agrees to the transfer.
The new sponsor will take on all legal obligations including the salary and transfer fees during this period.
Tamayo in Abu Dhabi asks: "My job is Telecommunication Engineer according to my labour card/contract and I hold a Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communication Engineering.
There is a better offer in Dubai by a different company with benefits according to the UAE labour law.
My sponsor said that they have a company policy banning all sponsored persons for 6 months or more if they resign. Do they have the right to do so? Can they influence or override the labour law?"
The most important term of sponsorship transfer from one company to another is to obtain the approval of the original and new sponsor.
ithout the consent of the original sponsor, the reader will have to wait for at least six months before another employer may obtain a work permit for him.
If a worker fails to fulfil his obligations under the job contract and the Labour Law, he will get a one-year ban from the Labour Ministry. During this ban he may not be allowed to work for another employer.
Khalil in Dubai asks: "I am living in a villa compound of 10 and I have just received a letter of renewal which increased the rent by Dh16,000. But others have got their rents raised by up to Dh10,000.
Can I do anything about it? Or do I have to pay what is asked as my landlord said if I don't like it then I should get out and if I agree, to be prepared for another rent increase of Dh7,000.
The landlord told me that the law allows what he is asking and that is the way the market is. Is this true?"
A 15 per cent rent cap was ordered by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
If the reader believes the landlord has violated this rule, he must submit a complaint to the Rental Committee of Dubai Municipality.
William in Sharjah asks: "I joined my employer more than two years ago and hold an engineer's visa. I tendered my resignation with 30 days notice to terminate my contract of employment. How can I claim all my entitlements? Do I have to wait for my visa to be cancelled before I can have all my end of service dues with my ticket and passport?
Your end of service benefits become due as and when your visa is cancelled. However, a worker should not be fooled by his employer who may ask that cancellation papers be signed before the worker receives his dues.
Never sign any documents or papers before receiving your entitlements because a worker's signing of cancellation papers implies that he admits having received his dues.
