NOC 'protects sponsors' interests'

As of tomorrow, the new law allowing workers to change sponsors under certain conditions will be enforced, a senior labour official said.

Free zones will not follow the new law, which a senior labour official who declined to be named said could be open to exploitation.

The ministry will not consider allowing workers to change jobs without their sponsor's permission, he said.

The new law allows conditional sponsorship transfers for all categories of expatriate workers.

All workers will still be required to obtain an No Objection Certificate (NOC) from their sponsor before they can transfer.

Unskilled workers may transfer sponsorship once after three years with their sponsor. The new sponsor must pay Dh5,000.

University graduates or their equivalent can transfer sponsorship twice after two years with their sponsor. The new sponsor must pay Dh3,000.

Post-graduates can transfer sponsorship without limit after one year with their sponsor. If they have open contracts not fixed-time they can leave whenever they like, the source said. The new sponsor must pay Dh1,500.

After exhausting the number of transfers allowed, workers must leave the country. They may come back on another employment visa after completing a ban of six months to one year.

Those who fulfil obligations under their job contracts will receive a six-month ban. Those who do not meet those obligations will be banned for a year.

The source said the new sponsorship laws would be applied tomorrow at the Ministry after the Federal National Council (FNC) signed the law on Tuesday.

The source admitted unskilled workers may be pressured into paying the Dh5,000 to transfer.

"The worker is free to do what he likes. The new sponsor is meant to pay. There's nothing we can do about this."

He said the laws were harsher on unskilled workers because there was less need to retain individuals.

"Why retain them? If they are offered Dh50 more they want to move, and every move costs us a lot of resources, time and money. Allowing this once will make them think very carefully before they do it."

The source said post graduates could "job hop."

But university graduates and their equivalent earlier told the newspaper the new law was harshest on them, limiting them to two transfers.

The source said it was technically illegal for most graduates to change sponsors prior to the new law, except with ministerial approval. However, in reality, most graduates did transfer after obtaining an NOC.

One PR account manager said it would pressure them not to change jobs, and make it more difficult for companies to find "qualified people with local experience.

The source said those who had finished their fixed-time contracts could also change "without permission" but had to guarantee they would not work for a direct competitor.

The source said the ministry would never consider proposing new laws allowing workers to move jobs without the sponsor's permission. "No, the Ministry will never consider this."

He added: "The sponsor invests money, pays for the ticket, trains workers. He invests in his workers. Is it then fair for workers to leave whenever they like? That's not possible."

Workers must complete their contracts, he said.

"That's only fair. Workers shouldn't break agreements."

Free zones
Status unclear

Workers who have completed the time period stipulated in fixed-time contracts do not need an NOC, the source said.

"But they may need to sign a letter agreeing not to work for a competing company."

The labour official said workers who completed their contracts and were threatened with a six-month ban could appeal to the labour ministry.

However, he said the Ministry would not intervene if the original sponsor insisted that the worker sign an agreement to avoid working for a competing company.

Ahmad Kajour, Assistant Undersecretary for Planning at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs said the status of free zones under the new law was not yet clear. Within free zones, workers are not sponsored by individual companies but by the free zone itself.

"We are not sure yet about free zones. They don't fall strictly under our jurisdiction."