Job contract remains unsigned
A reader from Dubai asks: My company brought me out here (from the UK) on a Letter of Intent, and after being here a few months I realised the offer was not as good as it appeared. It wasn't bad, it just didn't cover some of the nicer surprises you can have in Dubai like high rent increases and additional hours. I told the managing director that I would like to negotiate the final contract before I signed it, and also sent a few e-mails requesting the same. Now this is where it gets interesting. The company would not issue me or discuss a contract until I had my residence visa, and for some reason it took more than six months to get the residence visa. When it finally arrived they issued a contract that did not even cover everything in the letter of intent. I refused to sign and still haven't.
I have met with the managing director a couple of times to discuss the contract and we have almost finalised a deal, there is only one sticking point, I've asked it to be retroactive since it's not my fault it took more than six months to acquire the residence visa and it wasn't my idea to wait until it arrived. What is my legal standing? Since I don't have a contract registered with the government, if I leave the job tomorrow can they ban me? Can they stop me from getting another job? I do have my residence visa now but not my labour card because the contract is not registered (apparently). It seems to be a very unusual situation and I'm not sure how they managed it.
I am still hoping to resolve the issue with the company but would like to understand my situation better.
I would like to state that the Letter of Intent previously granted by the company to the questioner (and including all the benefits) should be binding. The questioner needs to let the company understand that - whether amicably or by filing a complaint with the Ministry of Labour. As for the company's delay in issuing the employment visa for more than six months, this action is unjustified because no visa usually takes such a long time.
As for the questioner's legal situation and his relationship with the company regarding having no labour contract, then I would confirm the employment relationship was there from the moment the questioner signed the Letter of Intent by which the company issued a work permit and residence visa in favour of the questioner. As per Article No. 35 of the labour law, if no labour contract is written by the parties, all relevant terms and conditions of such employment can be proved by all legal means of proof. So, what we conclude out of this Article is that the legality (validity) of an employment relationship between an employee and employer does not necessarily depend on the writing or attestation of the labour contract.
Consequently and in such case, if the questioner leaves his place of employment, then the company may file an absconding complaint against him before the Ministry of Labour. In addition, the questioner is not permitted to work for any party other than his employer, otherwise, according to the new law, this act will be considered a crime.
Therefore, I advise the questioner to solve his problem with the company amicably, especially, as I can see, his problems related to benefits and incentives are not that complicated and can be solved. I advise the questioner to disregard any other tempting offers by other companies due to the fact the questioner, even if granted a no-objection letter from his employer, cannot transfer to a new company because as per the labour law he should complete a period of one year service for his employer.
Questions answered by Advocate Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba of Al Bahr Advocates and Legal Consultants
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