Q: I have a non-competition agreement signed with my previous company. Based on that, I cannot work in the same field or anything related. I was an office assistant but I was given a title as sales so the agreement can be effective on me. I want to know, will that agreement get me into trouble if I work with a competitor?

Q: Good morning, I am writing to inquire regarding the non-compete clause. I just resigned from my previous company. I worked as admin staff and I did not have any supervisory roles, nor handle any financial responsibilities. I work for a mainland company in Dubai. Recently, I received a job offer from a competitor to do the same role. The competitor is DMCC and I will be under a Freezone visa. My employment entry permit has already been issued and I am just waiting for my residence visa to be printed. My previous employer threatened me that they will sue me because I signed a non-compete clause with them that should be effective for two years after I resigned. I am wondering if the non-compete restriction will apply to me given that I will be joining a Freezone company this time? I held a non-supervisory/admin level position in my previous company.

Q: Dear lawyers, If my contract is terminated by a Finnish company, can I join a competitor in the Middle East if I have a clause in the contract saying I can not join a competitor?

Q: Hi, I am writing to inquire regarding the non-compete clause. I resigned from a Dubai-based mainland LLC company in July 2021 and from then, they were not canceling my visa and not giving me EoSB. I filed a labor case and finally won the case after 6 months. I worked 7 years in a sales position with them. Recently, I received a job offer from a competitor to do the same role. The competitor is in Sharjah Freezone and I will be under a Freezone visa. There was a competition clause in my job offer letter which I signed 7 years ago but there was no such clause in the contract. And that time I hold a technician position and my recent position was sales. The clause written in the offer letter says: "should you terminate your employment contract, you shall not join any competitor in the UAE conducting the same activity as the company, before a period of one year following such termination". I am wondering if the non-compete restriction will apply to me given that I will be joining a Freezone company this time?

Q: Dear sir, This question is for UAE lawyers. My employer has written in our limited contract that I cannot work in any competing business in the UAE for one year if the contract is terminated by me or him and also 1 more line that says I have to pay 3000 AED as training fees if the contract is terminated before a year of the contract (I haven't received any training whatsoever). Is there any way I can terminate the contract before 1 year without any fines or ban? (The reason for terminating the contract is overtime for 16-hour duty with very poor living conditions). Kindly answer me!

Q: Good afternoon, Can you help me? I have a few employees who signed a trade of restraint/non-compete with our company and now left to work for a direct competitor which is in direct conflict with the contract they signed with our company. What can I do as they now try to take my clients with them?

Q: Dear sir/madam, I have been working in a gas company for about 6 years. It is our company's rule that one cannot switch to another gas company in any scenario within 2 years of resignation from the company. They think that it may cause leaking secrets about customers and suppliers, procedures, and policies to the competitors. Is there any legal value of such imposition? Can a company hold an experience/character certificate or any other valued document or payment in such a case? Thanks!

Q: Hello, I have a question regarding the non-compete clause. Do note that this non-compete clause was only mentioned in the offer letter and not in the labor contract. The current situation is I am looking to start my own training consultancy. The nature of the business is to partner with companies that provide e-learning products, I will then consult with HR leaders in companies and advise and sell that e-learning software to them. The previous organization that I worked for was not a consultancy but rather had its own e-learning software that is being sold in the market. However do note that the contract I signed with them was released by their company in New Jersey, USA, as they do not have an office in the UAE. However, my visa was issued by their partner company, whom I had to sign a labor contract with as well as an offer letter that did not have a non-compete clause. I want to know If I will get into any trouble if I start my own company considering the above. Thank you

Q: Hi. I have recently joined an organisation in the UAE. They have shared with me an offer letter on their company letterhead which prohibits me from joining the competitors for six months after leaving. Later, they shared the MOHRE Job Offer Letter which does not have a non-compete clause. Both the letters I had signed. I was told they would share the labour contract but they didn't; instead, they copied my signature from the Job Offer Letter to the Labour Contract without my knowledge. The labour contract also does not have a non-compete clause. Now I need to know whether the clause applies to me or not if I join another organisation.

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.

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).