My wife has been working in a private school for more than 2 years under a contract for limited period which expires on May 2014; she is working through my sponsorship and she has work permit from the ministry. My questions here are; A: Can my wife leave work immediately or by giving a resignation notice to the school management as per the law? B-The school management may not accept the resignation they are saying she must work for the notice period for 3 months then they will decide to accept the resignation or reject so if they did not accept the resignation and my wife left the school, will the Ministry of Labour impose ban on my wife although she is under my sponsorship? C- What are my wife’s rights for end-of-service gratuity in accordance with the Labour Law? If there is ban can we pay and lift the ban? Is it possible for my wife to pay for the notice period and leave the job immediately otherwise she will lose the other job offer if the school management force my wife to work for a notice period? Please advise.
I would like to clarify to the questioner that his wife is working on a contract for limited period and if the contract is terminated pre-term, she will lose her labour rights except the right related to leaves only. Also your wife might be requested to compensate the employer an amount equivalent to a salary for 45 days if the employer proved that he suffered a loss or affected work by such behaviour. The employer might request the Ministry of Labour to impose one year work ban on the wife due to this violation even if the wife is not under the company’s sponsorship and the questioner can’t pay and lift the ban. Finally your wife is under limited contract and therefore the notice period is not applicable in such contract.
— Readers’ questions answered by Advocate Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba of Al Shaiba Advocates and Legal Consultants
