I am new in UAE and I have been working only for three months in Dubai. I was hired on an employment visa. My contract mentions that I am an unskilled employee. I am now facing a problem back home and it needs my presence there. I talked to officials of my company and they agreed that I could go home. I told them that I was not sure how long I would have to stay there, so they decided to cancel my visa. Will there be a ban imposed on me by the Ministry of Labour in this case? My employer told me that he would not request the ministry to impose the ban. Can I come back once the problem is settled?
I would like to tell the questioner that, on cancellation, the Ministry of Labour may automatically impose a one-year ban because the questioner is an unskilled employee as per his labour contract. Therefore, the questioner will be entitled to come back country and work again only after the expiry of the ban period.
Gratuity and leave
I have been working in a company in Abu Dhabi on a limited contract since 2015. My basic salary was increased a year ago. A month ago, my employer terminated my service and right now, I am serving the notice period of two months. I have not taken my annual leave in the past three years. My employer mentioned that I am entitled to two-third of my salary in my end-of-service gratuity. How is my leave salary and gratuity calculated as per the UAE Labour Law? Will the service during the notice period be included while calculating gratuity? And, is the service period calculated from the date of joining work or from the date my employment visa was stamped? Can I claim the salary for the annual leave of three years?
I would like to clarify to the questioner that Articles 75 and 78 of the UAE Federal Law No. (8) of 1980 mention the following: Every worker shall, within each year of service, be granted a period of annual leave of not less than (1) two days a month where the worker’s period of service is more than six months but less than one year, or (2) 30 days a year, where the worker’s period of service is more than one year. Every worker shall be entitled to his basic wage and the housing allowance if applicable in respect of his days of annual leave where the circumstances of the work make it necessary for a worker to work during all or part of his annual leave, and if the days of leave on which he works are not carried forward to the following year, the employer shall pay him his remuneration, plus a leave allowance for the days worked at a rate equal to his basic wage.
“It shall be unlawful in any circumstances to employ a worker during his annual leave more than once in two successive years.”
The labour law stipulates that the salary last drawn will be the basis for calculating of the annual leave salary. As per the UAE Labour Law, the employee can claim the salary for only two years’ annual leave which had not been taken.
LEARN MORE: How to calculate UAE Gratuity Pay
Regarding gratuity, Articles 132, 133 and 137 of UAE Federal Law No. 8 of 1980 states: “A worker who has completed a period of one or more year of continuous service shall be entitled to a severance pay on the termination of his employment. The days of absence from work without pay shall not be included in calculating the period of service. The severance pay shall be calculated as follows: 21 days’ remuneration for each year of the first five years of service; and 30 days’ remuneration for each additional year of service provided that the aggregate amount of severance pay shall not exceed two years’ remuneration.”
A worker shall be entitled to a severance pay in respect of the number of days he has actually worked on the condition that he has completed one year of continuous service.
“Where a worker who is bound by a contract of unlimited duration leaves his work of his own accord after continuous service of not less than one year and not more than three years, he shall be entitled to one-third of the severance pay provided for in the preceding article; where the continuous period of service exceeds three years but does not exceed five years, he shall be entitled to two-third of such severance pay.”
I would like to clarify to the questioner that the service period shall be calculated from the day on which the worker joined work with the company regardless of the date the employment visa was stamped.
As per the Labour Court, the employee is entitled to end-of-service benefits until the last day of work with the employer. Therefore, the notice period is included while calculating gratuity.
— Questions are answered by lawyer Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba of Al Shaiba Advocates and Legal Consultants.
