No law to ban phones or Facebook at work, but companies can

Some companies don’t allow their employees to use their mobile phones during work hours? They even block Facebook, Gmail, Hotmail and other accounts on the computer. Is this permissible under the UAE law?

While there is no law saying that you cannot have your cell phone at work, there is also no law saying the employer cannot implement a policy prohibiting cell phone usage on the property. No laws specifically prohibit or permit employers from banning or limiting cell phone use, Facebook or any other accounts on the computer in the workplace. Your employer can indeed ban such things, but only because of a company policy, not a specific law. The company policy in this matter is treated like the contract itself. And this is implemented in Dubai Courts according to decisions made in Appeal No. 2014/168 Labour Issues. The court mentions that “it is the contract of employment that governs the employer’s relationship with the worker and determines the rights and obligations of each of them. If the employer issues regulations, instructions or decisions regarding the organisation of work in his establishment, these regulations, instructions and decisions shall be complementary, binding and treated as the contract of work itself.”

Article 907 of the Civil Transactions Law also states: “A worker may not occupy himself at the time of work or work during the term of the contract with a non-employer, and the employer may terminate the contract or deduct the worker’s wages insofar as the worker fails to do so.”

Article 908 of the same mentions that the worker shall compensate for the employer’s money loss, damages or losses due to his default and neglect.

Those two articles reveal the clear right of the employer to ask for compensation if the employee causes losses because of neglect. Cell phones, internet connections and any other devices might be a direct reason for such neglect.

I am a partner in an LLC company for more than three years. Since the beginning, the company has not made profit due to poor performance of the manager. I have requested my other partners to meet and discuss a change in manager, but I did not succeed because some of my partners did not agree with my decision, therefore, I am planning to sell my share and get out of the company as a partner.

What is the procedure as per the law to sell the share?

Can I sell my share to someone who is not a partner in the company because none of the partners in the company want to buy my share?

The Company Commercial Federal Law no. 2 for the year 2015, mentions the following in Article 80 — Procedures of Assignment of the Partner’s Share in the Company: