Q: Is it legal to hold the passport of the employee by a company? I didn't get my passport back after stamping visa, they gave me just a copy of passport with the visa page. My PRO told me that all passports should stay with the company and I can receive it back to travel only upon approval of the management. He explained that this is the company policy and common practice.

Q: I got a job in Dubai and my employer asked me to submit the passport for visa stamping. After stamping the visa on my passport, I asked my employer to give me the passport back but he refused. Kindly guide me, what can I do? One more thing. They have written in the offer letter that if I resign from the job, I will have to pay all the visa cost. Kindly guide me also regarding this, as I have already signed that offer letter.

Q: Hi Madam, I am working for a company on a limited contract in Dubai. I need to go for an emergency vacation, but the company isn't allowing the leave nor giving passport also. How can I get the passport from the employer? Please Help me.

Q: I would like to know, as per the Labor Law, can an employer keep the passport of an employee? If not and the employer is still keeping the passport, what to do? Thank you

Q: Dear sir/madam, Immediate resignation was rejected. The job I am doing is not in my signed contract. The amount paid is in my contract but does not match the duties given to me. I was stopped from doing what is in my contract or else to resign & go home. I have audios of phone calls being threatened by C.E.O. All this is because they have my passport in their custody, therefore, they promised that I won't go home till I die and I have evidence of this statement. Need advice, please!

Q: Hello sir, I am a Sharjah visa holder. My visa is canceled by labor and the original passport is required for immigration cancelation but the company does not give me my passport. How can I recover the passport from the company?

Q: Hello, My employer doesn't pay my salary on time. I had personal problems, stress, and migraine. When I had to go to a hospital, I didn't have money for that so I took 2 days off after informing HR and the manager. The next day I managed to get money from friends and went to the hospital. After that, I took a medical certificate and urgent resignation letter because of mental stress. They asked me to pay for the visa so I can take my passport. Of course, I don't have money and didn't get 1 month's salary. Now they filed absconding against me. What should I do? And I was on a 6 months probation period. This thing happened after 3 months.

Q: Dear Sir/Madam, My boss took my passport in the UAE and issued credit cards and a loan under my name without telling me. I need to travel overseas on a priority basis, but he is not returning my passport. I need expert advice, please!

An interview-format article covering the topic of an employer demanding to hold an employees passport. This is from the legal podcast of lawyer Ludmila Yamalova, the founder of LAWGICAL with LYLAW.

An interview-format article covering the topic of filing an employment court case in the UAE. This is from the legal podcast of lawyer Ludmila Yamalova, the founder of Lawgical with LYLAW.

The UAE has adopted a major reform in its legislative system that brought about 40 new laws and amendments to the company law, criminal law, personal status, among others. The amendments aim to develop the legislative structure in various sectors, the labor law being one of these, was the most recent. We try in this article to shed light on the changes introduced with the new labor law and their significance on both, the employer and employee.

The increasing complexity of laws and the growing number of individuals who legitimately want access to justice have put pressure on justice systems around the world. The courts must adopt digital transformation in order to stay up. Millions of lives could be improved by digital justice, but only if the technology is quickly and thoroughly understood.

The provisions of this Law, known as "UAE Labour Law", govern the relationship between employers and employees and other labour matters in the United Arab Emirates. There are special labour related regulations applicable in some of the free zones in the UAE.

The provisions of this Decree-Law, known as "New UAE Labor Law", govern labour relations in the private sector of the United Arab Emirates. The New Labor Law repeals the previous UAE Labor Law (Federal Law No. (8) of 1980).