Violators of labour law face stringent action

Abu Dhabi: Violators of the labour law will face civil and criminal penalties, a top Labour Ministry official said.

Humaid Rashid Bin Deemas, Acting Director General of the Labour Ministry, was speaking on the sidelines of an open day organised at the ministry.

Bin Deemas noted that if an employer violates any commitments stipulated by law or in the labour contract, the worker has the right to quit without notice, and in case of dismissal, he can file a complaint before the court to decide if this is arbitrary dismissal or not.

Bin Deemas said violations include changing the employee's work place to another establishment that is not a branch of the original one without the worker's approval.

They also include any salary delay or illegal deduction, forcing workers to work extra hours without compensation, assaulting workers, or downgrading the type of work or salary agreed upon without employee's approval.

During the open day, some workers submitted applications to move to other establishments because their employers violated commitments stipulated in the law or their employment contracts.

The complaints were referred to a court for further action.