Q: Hi. I am here in the UAE on a visit visa. A company gave me an offer letter, but it's already 2 months since I'm working here and still, they did not process my employment visa. Now, my visit visa is going to expire soon. If they do not make my visa, can I file a case on the basis of offer letter? Where can I go for justice, and what do I have to do? Please advise me. Thanks

Q: Dear Sir/Ma'am This is Muhammad Usama Ali with you. Actually, I'm from Pakistan and I was interested in working in Dubai. Meanwhile, my contact was with a person who used to say that I am the owner of the company in Dubai. At that time, that person needed staff for his company and I also wanted a good job. Meanwhile, he talked about my job and told me that he will get some money from me for the visa. So I asked him how much money I have to pay for the visa. He told me all the money. And then I asked him about the post and he said to me we hire you for a job of a purchaser. I agreed to this post and he told me that you have to pay visa money in advance. The money he invited me to his Pakistani friend's account. I sent the full amount to the account listed and given by him in Pakistan. Instead of giving me a work permit he gave me a visit visa. I worked for him for one & half month and my visit visa was also for one month and my visa period has expired.

Q: Ma’am/sir, I just want to ask if we have a right to complain at the labor office. We are working on a company based in Business Bay, Dubai since October 2019. The employer asks us to work though we don't have working visas. We agreed because he said he will process the visas before the end of the month as he needs to see if we are capable to do the job. After a month, he said he will process our visas since we are doing well. We’ve waited for a month then, suddenly, he said we need to wait for 3 months because we are still on a probationary period. So we keep on extending our visit visas. After 3 months, he said he will process it but till now we don't have our visas. Most of my colleagues' visas are already expired and he didn’t give us our salary from last month. He doesn’t come to the office too and doesn’t reply to our messages. Can we still get our salaries from him or even fix our visas? Thank you in advance!

س: السلام عليكم، أعمل في شركة في دبي ووقّعت على عرض عمل منذ شهر. الآن الشركة تريد تجديد تأشيرة زيارتي فقط. هل يلحقني أي ضرر إذا أتى قسم التفتيش إلى الشركة إذا لم يكن لي ملف جاري في مكتب الهجرة ووزارة العمل؟ كل الاحترام!

Q: Hello, I would like to know if it is illegal for someone with tattoos to work in the public sector.

Q: Dear Sir/Madam, I have a misdemeanor case, and the lower court has already given a verdict in my favor. Now the case is in the upper court. Is it possible to get a guarantor and leave Dubai? As of now, I only have a travel ban, and I am on a visitor visa.

Q: Dear Lawyers, What happens to the employer and employee if CID in Dubai takes up an employee working on his own visa with an NOC but working in a different company without a labor work permit? The company gave an NOC, but their trade license expired, and the new company can't issue a labor permit because the NOC-giving company's trade license is expired. Any advice or suggestions? Please help!

Q: Hello, Kindly let me know the statutory provisions relating to the penalty for letting employees work without a visa and the amount of penalty to be paid by the employer.

Three new ministerial decrees containing a new set of rules for the labour market were issued by the UAE Ministry of Labour last year and came into force on the 1st of January this year. The decrees are expected to alter the contractual relationship between employers and workers in the UAE.

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 UAE Penal Code, like all other laws, addresses the crime of fraud in Article 399 of the UAE Federal Penal Code, which stipulates that whoever seizes, for himself or another, a movable property, or obtains a document or signature thereon, cancellation or destruction thereof or amendment thereto by fraudulent means, or by assuming a false name or capacity, where such an act leads to deception of a victim and leads him to surrender shall be punished by imprisonment or fine.

According to this Decree, tentative approval to admit a foreign worker for the purpose of employment in the UAE cannot be granted until an Employment Offer that conforms with the Standard Employment Contract is duly signed by the employee and presented to the Ministry of Labour.

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).