Q: Can someone here help me, please! My brother is in Dubai and finished his 2yr contract. He doesn't want to renew anymore so he decided to submit his resignation and stop working. His employer agreed, however, they refused to give him his passport. They also told him that once he gets his passport, he will be arrested as they filed a case against him. In line with this, may I ask anyone's kind assistance in this matter? My brother needs to work as he doesn't have a visa and he doesn't want to return to his old company. Also, I would like to ask if he is entitled to gratuity even if he finished his 2yr contract only? Many thanks in advance!

Q: Dear sir/madam, What can I do if my employer is not giving me my passport? I submitted my resignation and gave the 1 month's notice without salary. My employer is asking for 1000 AED for my cancellation to give my passport. I paid 1000 AED, but the employer did not give me my passport. He has given only the cancellation papers. What will I do?

Q: Good day Sir, Please, I would like to know if it is legal for an employer to hold his employee's educational certificates and passport after frequent requests by the employee to return his documents? This has cost me a lot of loss in terms of time and money while doing online courses. I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks

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.

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.

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 law promulgates UAE Criminal Procedural Law (Penal Procedures Law) which governs criminal procedures in the UAE. This law applies to the procedures relating to offences whose punishments are not specified, dogma and punitive offences, and blood money, if they do not violate the Sharia rules.

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).