Q: Dear Respected Lawyers, I am on management visa from Sharjah whose passport was denied by the employer after completing 13 months of service. They told me passport can't be given until my client in Iraq settles a business transaction dues the company did. Feeling insulted, I resigned on June 20th 2018 and stopped going to the office waiting for my Iraqi client to visit the UAE. Finally, the client came to Dubai on August 23rd and showed my employer his account where the client lost more than USD 700,000 because of the mismanagement of the project by the employer. The employer left the meeting room saying I will never get my passport or visa cancelled. He told if ever I report it to the Labor Department, I will be put into trouble through his contacts with senior police officials. Finally, I filed my labour complaint today for my Visa cancellation. Kindly advise whom should I approach at Sharjah Court to file a petition for getting back my Passport on an urgent basis. Humbly requesting your valued positive advice and assistance.

Q: I'm working with an LLC company in Abu Dhabi. for the past 13 days, the visa is already stamped on my passport but he is not giving it back to me. Is there any law in UAE that says "the employer can hold the employee passport"? Please clear my doubt.

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.

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 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 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 Decree sets the rules and conditions for the termination of fixed-term (limited) or unlimited (not term-bound) employment contract between employer and worker in the United Arab Emirates.