Dubai: Are you working in the UAE and are now planning to return to your home country, or move to another country? If so, you may be eligible for a repatriation ticket in certain circumstances.
The UAE’s Labour Law provides detailed guidelines for employers on their responsibilities towards employees and one of the duties they need to fulfil is the need to cover the repatriation costs of an employee. However, there are certain conditions that need to be met for an employee to be eligible for a repatriation ticket. Here is a guide on what the law says about the repatriation ticket.
What is a repatriation ticket?
Article 13 of the new UAE Labour Law – Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 – provides a list of responsibilities that an employer needs to fulfil, and bearing the cost for an employee’s repatriation in certain cases is part of these responsibilities.
“A repatriation ticket is one of the rights guaranteed by law to a private sector employee within the UAE. The new Labour Law provides for it in Article 13 (12),” Mohamed Gamal, legal consultant at MG Law, a claims settlement service provider, told Gulf News.
“The law guarantees that the worker obtains a ticket to return home or elsewhere by agreement with the employer through the contract or through a judicial claim in the event of the employer's refusal to provide it,” he added
The law guarantees that the worker obtains a ticket to return home or elsewhere by agreement with the employer through the contract or through a judicial claim in the event of the employer's refusal to provide it.
Situations when you are not entitled to a repatriation ticket
However, there are certain situations when an employee may not be eligible for a repatriation ticket, according to Priyasha Corrie, a Partner at Keystone Law Middle East LLP.
“You are not eligible for a repatriation ticket if you are joining another employer, you resign from employment,you intend to stay in the UAE, or are terminated for misconduct or any other reason attributed to you,” Corrie said.
2. If you resign from employment.
3. If you intend to stay in the UAE, or
4. If you are terminated for misconduct or any other reason attributed to you.
You are not eligible for a repatriation ticket if you are joining another employer, you resign from employment,you intend to stay in the UAE, or are terminated for misconduct or any other reason attributed to you.
“As such, you are only eligible for a repatriation ticket if your employment has been terminated by the employer, other than for the grounds under Artice 44 of the UAE Labour Law, and you intend to return to your home country,” Corrie said.
Corrie also advised people to be aware of the different between the repatriation ticket – which is issued in cases listed above – and an ‘annual ticket’.
“Annual air tickets are not mandatory under UAE labour law and it is a market practice to offer this benefit,” she said.
