Q: I worked in a company for more than 5 years. I was terminated (with notice period) after I made a salary complaint. The labour researcher said it might not be arbitrary dismissal because I'm on an unlimited contract, saying any party may terminate the contract as long as there is notice period. So I didn’t push for it. We haven’t settled my gratuity yet, but they want to deduct my lates and absences. As of now, I'm just assuming they want to deduct all my lates and absences from my joining date until my last day. I admit that I have many lates and absences (sick leaves) in my entire employment with them, but they never issued any written warning or imposed any fine as disciplinary actions - they didn’t deduct anything on my salary following every incident. Is it legal for the company to deduct lates and absences on my gratuity? Can they count the lates and absences from my joining date until my last day? Or only for the past few months, or 1 year, or start on my latest renewal date? Thank you.

Q: I would like to know if the actions of my employer are eligible. I have been working for the company for more than 3 years. I got pregnant a few months back and I informed the management of my company about this. I have been told that I can't go on maternity leave and I should submit my resignation letter asap, otherwise, the employer is going to terminate me with a ban or something like this, they did not clarify. I do not want to lose the job. I just want to know if the law protects me in this situation.

Q: Sir, I am currently working for a construction company in Dubai. We haven't received our salaries for 5 months already. I got an offer from another company and they need me to start urgently. As my contract is unlimited, I am required to finish the 1-month notice as per the law. However, I also quoted that as per law, if a certain company has not paid their employees at least 3 months, the employee is entitled to leave without completing the notice period. I filed a complaint at the MOHRE with a reason of leaving the company in 2 weeks' notice due to the failure of releasing salaries. I also need to get my settlement as soon as possible as well. Now, they are threatening me that this case will go against me and my future career employment. Any advice on what to do?

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.

There are laws and international conventions in place to protect workers’ rights and ensure their wellbeing. Specifically, under the UAE Labor Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021), there are established procedures for terminating employment contracts.

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.

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).