Q: I have worked for a company in a senior management role for two years and resigned due to my reasons. My resignation was accepted on 15th November 2017 and I was asked to hand over the charge to new management since more than one year ago now. My visa was also cancelled in August 2018 after a few months of my resignation. The new management took the charge and could not manage the business efficiently after my exit, and the business which resulted in the termination of the new management. The company is now blaming me that during my tenure with the company earlier, there was some wrong decision taken which has caused losses to the company. The company now wants to file a legal case against me. I am getting several threatening messages and calls to come back and resolve the old issues, which is causing me mental torture. I am not in a position to help the company to recover their irreparable damages now. Please advise what is the UAE labour law for such a situation.

Q: Hi Hari, I am currently working in Abu Dhabi. I had an employment contract with a Dubai company and It has been more than 8 months so far since I resigned. I signed the settlement paper even though my settlement was not made. But I have a mail stating that I am signing this paper for cancellation and still yet to receive my dues. I registered a complaint against my old employer and they are telling me that they will file a criminal case stating that I stole materials, I got a commission from suppliers and subcontractors, which is not true. Please advise.

Q: I have a case which is under investigation for the past year and a half related to my previous employer. I have been told verbally that I’m clear but due to the process I have to wait until the investigation is completed and moves to the public prosecutor to get my passport back. I have been currently working with a semi-government organisation for two years now and they have decided to suspend me and have been forcing me to resign based on this case. I have tried to negotiate with them to wait for the case to be moved to the public prosecutor and now they are saying they will terminate me. I have been under suspension with no pay for three months now. Kindly advise whether I should go to the labour courts with a complaint or still try to talk to my current employer. Thank you

Q: I was working in a company for around 3.5 years in Dubai in the position of Estimation Engineer. On 22-01-2019, I submitted my resignation to the company with one month period till 21-02-2019. On 12-02-2019, the company didn't allow me to enter the office to work and they told me the company will cancel my visa and settle my outstanding within 2 days. However, in between, I have sent an email to the company twice and called the HR but they didn't respond and they are not giving me my passport. I have filed a labour case against the company due to not cancelling my visa and I have got the date of 7th April 19 for the labour court case. Subsequently, the company has filed a criminal case against me for copying data from the company system. I visited the police station last week and they recorded my statement. I want to know, can I get my visa cancellation from the labour court in the presence of the criminal case so that I can cover my ongoing loan in the UAE and family liability?

Q: I’ve given a loan to my employer due to bad cash flow position of the company to support the company without a written agreement. Due to the bad position of the company, the company had fired more than 80% manpower including myself. I have a few salaries also pending and until last month, the company was paying me only the EMI of the said loan. Kindly advise me how to recover the dues including loan + FFS.

س: لدي عقد غير محدد المدة. صاحب العمل رفع علينا قضية جزائية وأوقفنا عن العمل بدون راتب. الحمدلله، حصلنا على البراءة بعد 18 شهراً. هل من حقي أن أطالب بالرواتب التي لم أستلمها طيلة فترة التقاضي؟ مع العلم أنه رفع القضية في شهر 7 /2019 وعقدي انتهى في 15/10/2019 وصاحب العمل لم يجدده ولم يلغيه بحجة أنه رافع علينا قضية. الحمدلله أخدنا براءة يوم 20/1/2021. هل من حقي أن أطالب برواتبي بأتر رجعي؟

Q: Hi, I have won a case of dirhams 8400 but my company has filed an appeal case and has put fake allegations on me of 20 thousand dirhams. When I went to submit the memorandum reply, 3 people have advised me that since the claim value of the case is less there is no need for any reply to the memorandum. My hearing for final judgment is now decided for next month. I'm still scared if I will not receive my payment and if I have to end up paying 20K to my employer. Please suggest. Also please advise what happens if I lose this appeal case.

س: السلام عليكم، أحتاج إلى استفسار مشكورين. أعمل في شركة مقاولات بصفة مدير تسويق وتم الاتفاق على عمولة ١% على المشاريع التي أقوم بتوقيعها ولكن لم يتم ذكرها في عقد العمل. كنت أحصل على مبالغ تحت الحساب من حساب العمولة وعملت لمدة ٧ سنوات في الشركة. هل يحق لي المطالبة بكامل العمولة المتبقية مع وجود رسائل بيني وبين مالك الشركة بالمبالغ المدفوعة تحت الحساب من بند العمولة؟

An interview-format article covering the topic of filing an employment court case in the UAE. This is from the legal podcast of lawyer Ludmila Yamalova, the founder of Lawgical with LYLAW.

With the introduction of the new procedures for obtaining a power of attorney (POA) remotely in the UAE, after it was mandatory to appear in person in front of the notary public as a global rule to ensure the identity and intention of the person requesting a POA, we put between your hands this brief guide for how you get it done.

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.

This Law promulgates the Federal Penal Code (Criminal Law) of the United Arab Emirates. Crimes and chastisement punishments shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other penal codes.

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).

The provisions of this Federal Decree-Law No. (31) of 2021 Promulgating the Crimes and Penalties Law, known as the "New UAE Penal Code", governs criminal actions in the United Arab Emirates. The New Penal Code repeals the previous UAE Penal Code (Federal Law No. (3) of 1987 Promulgating the Penal Code).