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No six-month work ban from January 1, 2011 in UAE

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UAE residency visa, labour card validity in the private sector cut to two years from January 2011

New rule to reduce the life of the labour card for all workers and employees in the private sector to come into effect next month. A new decision has been approved to reduce the life of the labour card for all workers and employees in the private sector, to two years from the current three, officials confirmed on Tuesday.

A senior official at the Labour Ministry told Gulf News the rule will be implemented in January 2011. "As the labour card will be for only two years, naturally the residency visa will also be for two years," the official explained.

According to a statement by Humaid Bin Deemas, Acting Director-General of the Ministry of Labour, carried by WAM, "The UAE Cabinet has reduced the validity of labour cards of all categories of people who work in private sector from three years to two years in a bid to regulate the labour market."

The Cabinet decision aims to unify the labour card validity for all work categories to be similar to that of drivers, domestic helpers and other similar categories who are given only two-year labour cards and residence visas by the Department of Residency and Foreigners Affairs, while other professions currently get three-year labour cards and three-year residence visa.

Major General Nasser Al Awadi Al Minhali, Assistant Undersecretary at the ministry's Naturalisation and Residency Affairs department told Gulf News the change in the validity of the labour card will impact the expiry date of the residence visa issued to expatriates.

"When we get an application for a residence visa we look at the validity of the labour card issued by the Ministry of Labour; if it is for two years then we will issue a two-year residence visa," he explained.

Significant amendments

He also revealed that the ministry is currently studying significant amendments to the current law which deals with residency and foreigners' affairs.

Bin Deemas said the decision will help private sector employers to "save Dh678 million annually", as ministry statistics show that 70 per cent of labour cards are cancelled before two years have passed.

He said total licence and work permit fees for 2009 were Dh2.25 billion, and that it cost 70 per cent of employers who paid the three-year irretrievable fees, a sum of Dh1.757 billion.However, they could have saved Dh678 million if the cards were valid for two years.

"The decision would also achieve certain flexibility in the relationship between employers and employees; it would give both parties the ability to end the relationship without big losses for the employers and in a way that will not violate the labour laws," he said, adding that for the employees, the decision will help enhance competitiveness and movement in the job market.

Resigning from work when out of UAE

A reader from Dubai asks: This question is on behalf of my sister-in-law who was working in Dubai for five years in the same company. Last November, she went on leave for two weeks and did not come back due to some reasons. She sent her resignation by email after the second week. The company did not respond to her mail. Right now, she is in the Philippines. She doesn’t want to go back to the UAE. Her visa is not yet cancelled by her previous employer. She will be out of UAE for almost six months and her work permit will expire in September. Does she need to send her passport to her previous employer to have it cancelled?

I would like to clarify to the questioner that when she resigned from work while she was outside the country, she has violated the Labour Law especially if her contract is for unlimited period and she notifies the employer. The employee has to work within the notice period and then hand-over his custody. The questioner in this case might lose the end-of-service gratuity. Besides, the employer might request the Ministry of Labour to impose a one-year ban or the questioner might not be able to enter the country once again. Therefore, if the questioner cannot return to the country, she has to send her passport to cancel her sponsorship.

Questions answered by Advocate Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba of Al Bahar Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Bounced cheque: How to get your money back

A reader from Dubai asks: I have a cheque towards an amount of money I gave to the cheque issuer six months ago. The said cheque was returned from the bank unpaid for insufficient funds; upon approaching the cheque issuer, he paid me half the amount of the cheque and since then I have been trying with him to get the balance of the amount, however, there is no hope to get the remaining amount. When I told him that I would present the cheque to police, he stated that I cannot do so because: 1- it is written on the reverse of the cheque that I have received half of the cheque amount; therefore such dispute has become before the civil court not the police. 2- I am the one who wrote the full information of the cheque such as the date and amount of the cheque and the cheque issuer has only signed the cheque. Does this mean that I can not present the cheque to the police? Please guide me in this regard.

I would like to clarify to the questioner that he may present the cheque to the police; he can merely inform the police that he has received half of the amount. As for the information written by the questioner in the cheque, this does not prevent the questioner from presenting the cheque and by doing this, the questioner is not considered to be breaking the law.

Questions answered by Advocate Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba of Al Bahar Advocates and Legal Consultants.