Q: Dear Sir, I need urgent legal help. I worked for a company for past 7 years in RAK. At the time of leaving the company, they did not provide me with my experience letter. When I exited to India, my new employer did not give me a new visa because I could not give experience letter. For 30 days, I was jobless in India. Then in a job portal, I found a job in another company in Sharjah, but it was a competitor to my previous company. I had no option, so I joined them to support my family. After 3 months of joining, my previous employer came to know, and now is threatening to file a case against me. I need to know the following: - What will be the consequences of the case? - Will be there any chance to win and continue to work for my new employer? - How much will it cost me financially so that I can plan accordingly? - And last, I would like to know the timeline required to have this case resolved. Shall wait for your response urgently. Ashley

Q: Sir/Madam I am a banker and I frequently have enquiries from many of my clients for doubts on bounced security cheques and how to find out if any case has been filed on them. My question regarding this is can I refer them to any lawyer or law firm on a commission basis as the lawyers and law firms will be of help to them? Is that permissible to refer to such?

Q: My previous company is claiming that I broke the non-compete clause even though I am working in a completely different field.

Q: Hi, I have signed a non-compete clause (under unlimited contract) with my previous company. After working for 8 years with them, they terminated me. I have now joined a competitor considering there was no other job available in the market. Now after 7 months, my previous company has filed a legal suit asking for compensation considering I am in a similar role and in the same territory. What is the available remedy?

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.

Q: Dear Sir, I am an employer in the UAE. I found that my employee is cheating on me and purchasing goods for my customers from outside my shop. I asked him regarding this and he did not reply correctly so I asked him to leave. Now, what can I do to cancel his contract? He has an unlimited contract. Best regards,

Q: Dear sir/madam, I had signed a labor contract with the Ministry of Labour which had no "non-compete" clause. Now, I want to leave the company, but my employer wants me to sign the "non-compete" clause in the termination contract. In this case, is the non-compete clause applicable or not?

Q: Hi. I have recently joined an organisation in the UAE. They have shared with me an offer letter on their company letterhead which prohibits me from joining the competitors for six months after leaving. Later, they shared the MOHRE Job Offer Letter which does not have a non-compete clause. Both the letters I had signed. I was told they would share the labour contract but they didn't; instead, they copied my signature from the Job Offer Letter to the Labour Contract without my knowledge. The labour contract also does not have a non-compete clause. Now I need to know whether the clause applies to me or not if I join another organisation.

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.

خضع تنظيم عقد العمل لتعديل وتحديث مستمر في الإمارات العربية المتحدة نظراً لأهميته في تنظيم العلاقة بين العامل وصاحب العمل ليعكس إراتيهما الفعلية ويلحظ كافة التفاصيل التي تبقي على التوازن في العلاقة العمالية. لذا يتوجب على كل من العامل وصاحب العمل البقاء على اطلاع دائم على التعديلات المتعلقة بهذا الشأن لتفادي أية عواقب ناجمة عن تصرفات قانونية معينة.

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 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 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).