Q: Good morning, I have a loan from the company and was terminated within the probation for a breach of confidentiality (I have sent an email to my personal email address!). Can the company ask the money back? Company is conducting fraud with the visa sponsor (Dubai Airport Free Zone) and let's everyone sign a second contract with lower basic salary in order to avoid deposits with the visa sponsor, deducts money for each and everything from staff salary, records all phone conversations without advising the customers and so on and so on. Any advice, please? Thanks a lot in advance. Best regards, R. Costa

Q: Suppose the employer finds out that the employee has been contacting his clients, and selling vendor products to such clients and accepting money. This has been captured in a CCTV footage, submitted to the police and the case is being under investigation. Now, the employee does not report to work and files a case in the MOL for overtime and not salary, as the salary is paid on time and payslips are signed by the employee. Since based on the final judgement, all the benefits for the employee may be nullified as per article 4 of the preamble, can the employer request the MOL to defer the hearing in the case till a final judgement is received in the police case? Pleases advise if any other means can be taken.

Q: Hi, I am working for a ship management company in Saif Zone, Sharjah. My wife has her own marine certification company. If I am using my wife company as a service provider in my ship management company, and later on my employer came to know that this my wife's company, is it considered a conflict of interest or any unlawful act.

Q: Dear Sir, I'm Satheesh from Abu Dhabi. For the past 3 years, I was working for a free zone company in Dubai. Our company have clients from both Dubai and Abu Dhabi and doing medical billing services for hospitals and medical centres. I was working with one of the company's clients which is a government hospital in Abu Dhabi (please note - govt is removing our company by Sept.). My concern is that the hospital is interested to recruit me as their employee. But I already signed a limited contract with my company which has "Non-competition non-solicitation agreement". My contract states that I cannot join their clients or competitors for 24 months after my visa expiry or end of service. If I violate this law they will take legal actions and they can ask for compensation (Law no. 8 of 1980 for UAE and Law no. 5 of 1985 for Dubai). My visa is expiring by Aug 25th, so I'd like to join there. Can I join this Abu Dhabi government hospital or not? If I join, is there any legal issue I have to face from my company?

Q: Hi, I'm going to open a criminal case in Dubai at the police station or through prosecution against an employee who committed fraud in our company. Usually, the police or court ask for a legal auditor report. I would like to know if the legal auditor report is made by an unapproved auditor or accounting company, and then when I submit it to the police, will they accept it?

Q: Dear sir/madam, I am an employer and have cleared all dues of one of my employees. He has signed no due certificate from the labor department. After 3 months of leaving the job, he filed a complaint in MOHRE for non-payment of the salary. As an employer, what are my rights in this case?

Q: I was working for a company for more than 20 years and last January 2022 was my last working day. After leaving the company for more than a year, can my old company publish a notice in the newspaper now saying that I don't work for them? There was no financial fraud or any issues while leaving the company.

Q: Dear Sir/Madam, Good day! I hope this email finds you well! We have received information that one of our employees, who is under our sponsorship, is working outside of his official duties and receiving payment from our clients. We would like to inquire if the labor law permits employees to work outside of their official working hours. Furthermore, as an organization, we take any violation of company policies and labor laws seriously. If it is found that the employee in question has indeed been working outside of his official duties without prior permission, we may have to take disciplinary action against him. We request your guidance on the course of action that we should take in this situation and if there are any specific clauses of the labor law that we should consider while taking disciplinary action. We appreciate your response and look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you!

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 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.

This Law promulgates the Federal Penal Code (Criminal Law) of the United Arab Emirates. Crimes and chastisement punishments shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other penal codes.

The provisions of this law On Evidence in Civil and Commercial Transactions (Law of Evidence) govern evidence in civil and commercial disputes 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).

The provisions of this Federal Decree-Law No. (31) of 2021 Promulgating the Crimes and Penalties Law, known as the "New UAE Penal Code", governs criminal actions in the United Arab Emirates. The New Penal Code repeals the previous UAE Penal Code (Federal Law No. (3) of 1987 Promulgating the Penal Code).