Q: Dear Mr Khalifa I have recently resigned from my company in Dubai where I have worked for over six years. Currently, I am serving the notice period up to 30th June 2019. I resigned on 11th June 2019 but my company is asking me to serve 30 days notice period. The reason for leaving is they are not paying me my salary on time which has now increased to almost three months. My dues include 3 months salary (April, May and June 2019), 6 years gratuity and 10.5 days annual leaves. The total amount due is around AED 115,000. When I asked my company to cancel my resident visa (which is already expired on 22nd June 2019), they have sent me the final settlement which states the following declaration: "I, the undersigned do hereby certify that I have received all my dues from my Company/Institution and I have no right to make any claim after this date." I told my company that the dues are not cleared yet, how can I sign this form? but they are saying that this form will not affect my dues. Please advise.

Q: Dear sir/madam, My boss fired me after 8 months of working for the restaurant and did not pay my last salary for the month of July after he fired me. He delayed the process of my employment visa untill I got a fine of 3500 AED plus the extra hours of work. He did not pay me for 8 months. I have complained already to the labor many times but my boss keeps promising and lying to the labor that he will pay me. What should I do? Do I need to hire a lawyer? I do not have money. Thanks!

Q: Dear sir/madam, My employer mentioned what they owe me in my termination. Later, after they fired me and I filed a court case, they sent me another letter telling me if I don’t sign the visa cancellation letter by 2 pm, the amount (which was already mentioned in my termination letter as part of our contractual agreement) will not be paid to me. This is a small local company and I understand that “without prejudice” is not recognized by the UAE labor law. I, therefore, wonder why they labeled it as such. Signing the visa cancellation document mean I had to (falsely) confirm that I received all my dues and that I would waive all my legal rights in bringing a claim. Therefore, I didn’t sign. Question 1: Are they allowed to revoke what they already offered in the termination letter, after they fired me? Question 2: Is it legal to make the payment of one’s dues subject to signing the visa cancellation? (Can you think why they made it “without prejudice”?)

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.

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.

When an employee or employer mentions legal issues related to their labour relationship, the first question to be raised is: do you have a limited or unlimited labour contract? We try here to shed light on the relevant provisions of the limited and unlimited contracts in the UAE labour law pertaining to resignation, termination of employment, notice period and calculation of the end of service benefits.

An interview-format article covering the topic of employment in the UAE. This is from the legal podcast of lawyer Ludmila Yamalova, the founder of Lawgical with LYLAW. In this article, Ludmila informs readers what they should do and where they should go if they have not been paid by their employer.

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).