Q: Dear Sir, I'm Satheesh from Abu Dhabi. For the past 3 years, I was working for a free zone company in Dubai. Our company have clients from both Dubai and Abu Dhabi and doing medical billing services for hospitals and medical centres. I was working with one of the company's clients which is a government hospital in Abu Dhabi (please note - govt is removing our company by Sept.). My concern is that the hospital is interested to recruit me as their employee. But I already signed a limited contract with my company which has "Non-competition non-solicitation agreement". My contract states that I cannot join their clients or competitors for 24 months after my visa expiry or end of service. If I violate this law they will take legal actions and they can ask for compensation (Law no. 8 of 1980 for UAE and Law no. 5 of 1985 for Dubai). My visa is expiring by Aug 25th, so I'd like to join there. Can I join this Abu Dhabi government hospital or not? If I join, is there any legal issue I have to face from my company?

Q: Hi, I'm Sanu from Abu Dhabi, my job is medical coding. I need a clarification regarding joining the client of my employer. I have completed 3 years with my current employer (Billing Services DMCC, Dubai). My 3-year contract was expired and cancelled. Now one of my previous employer clients (a government hospital) is approaching me to join with them. I have already signed a non-competition agreement which has a clause - I cannot join my employer own client for 2 years. Please note, currently, the contract between my previous employer and this government hospital has been cancelled. Please advise is there any exception that I can join with own client as it is government sector? Is there a chance my previous employer can make a case against me? If they raise a case then how to survive?

Q: Good morning. An American company is working as an advisor for the Dubai government. The company has got employees to sign a non-competition clause document, prohibiting them from working for the same clients for a period of 1 year. Now, employees resigned and might work directly or indirectly with the same clients. The company is threatening to sue the former employees for non-compliance with that clause and make them obtain the company's legal authorization to do such work. Can you please advise the level of legality and also what is the appropriate next step?

Q: Hello there, I was working for a company in Jebel Ali Free Zone since 2011 as a senior sales manager. I was asked to resign due to the company not performing well. I resigned. Now, after 3 months I have a job offer in another Jebel Ali free zone company. I had signed a standard JAFZA non compete agreement in 2011. I have told my former employer through emails where I am joining and I have received no objection from them verbally and a firm no objection through SMS from the signatory authority of the company. They are dodging giving the letter. Will it be a problem for me in the future?

Q: Hi Ma'am, My 2-year contract will soon finish in November this year. So I submitted a letter stating that I'm not going to renew my contract anymore. It was a 3 months notice. Recently, she spoke with me and informed me that there is a non-compete clause in my contract and that I'm not allowed to seek another employer unless they allow me to. The clause states that "The Second Party shall be committed not to work in the same competing business of the First Party in the UAE for a period of two years, if the employee has terminated the employment contract or if the contract has expired as per article 127." I want to know if there is a way that I can still find and transfer to another employer. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

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, promulgating UAE Civil Code, govern the civil transactions in the United Arab Emirates. The commercial transactions remain subject to the laws and regulations applicable in their regard.

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).