Q: In my offer letter, they have mentioned my salary as basic pay, food allowance and other allowances, but they have mentioned that accommodation and transportation will be provided by the company. I want to know, will they charge for accommodation and transportation or it will be free of cost?

Q: I work for the Ministry of Education and my wife works for Etihad Airways. I get a housing and my wife received a housing allowance from her company. We recently applied for a bigger apartment at my company. I received an email yesterday saying that we have to evacuate our apartment because I am not eligible for the housing anymore as she receives an allowance from Etihad. Etihad Airways HR told us that this only applies if I work for Etihad as well. My company says they are government and therefore I am not allowed to get an allowance. I researched and found out that Etihad is government owned but not funded or operated. How should I approach this and can they just kick me out on the street with a pregnant wife and an 18-month-old baby? I felt that the email was sent in a threatening way.

Q: My spouse and I work in different organizations. We both are on independent company visa. As per the term of employment of each of us, we are allowed to claim school fee paid for our child. Please confirm, can both of us claim the fee reimbursement in our individual company?

Q: What will we do if the construction company does not give advance to the new labor for food?

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.

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 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).