Q: Hello Sir, A friend of mine was offered a job in Dubai on a visit visa, and he is working at the company for almost past 4 months on the same visa. Last month, his visit visa was expired and overstayed. The company had cleared his overstay and has issued him yet another visit visa for a month. Now, whenever he asks the HR for work visa status, he is not getting a proper reply. My friend says he does not want to continue, but the company has the passport and they are not giving him the passport. He knows that working on a visit visa is illegal in the UAE, and he wants to quit. What are his options? Should he contact the labour department or MOL? Will he be deported, fined and/ or jailed?

Q: Hi. I am here in the UAE on a visit visa. A company gave me an offer letter, but it's already 2 months since I'm working here and still, they did not process my employment visa. Now, my visit visa is going to expire soon. If they do not make my visa, can I file a case on the basis of offer letter? Where can I go for justice, and what do I have to do? Please advise me. Thanks

Q: Dear Sir, I am an Endodontist Dentist from India. I got offer letter on 29 July 2016. The HAAD licence for a specialist dentist was complete on 14 October 2016. I contacted my employer regarding employment visa but every time he gave me an excuse! Now is 23 January 2017 till now there is no proper response from the employer about the employment visa. How should I move out of the situation? What legal procedures can I follow so that the employer either get me employment visa or let me move out to search any other job without getting work ban? Kindly help me in the situation.

Q: I got an offer letter from an employer in November. I signed the offer letter and sent my signed acceptance back to the employer. I resigned from my previous company and joined this new company officially on the 26th of December. They told me they are processing my visa and every day they tell me the same thing. I go to the office every day, but yesterday they told me they cannot process my visa. I requested them to give me some money as I am coming to their office every day since the 26th of December. They refused to pay as well. Please advise me, is there any legal remedy available in my circumstances?

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).