Q: I need your assistance, please. I believe that the Central Bank of the UAE may freeze the bank account of a terminated employee. We have a client in the UAE and need to know what the employer’s obligation is to inform the bank when an employee’s contract is being terminated. Is there a specific format that must be used to inform the bank or what is expected of the employer?

Q: A Swedish friend went to the UAE for a job contract in January 2018. He was paid by the company and the payment went into an NY bank. The NY bank insists that the client shows up to release his funds. He is being held in Dubai detention/jail because he can not pay the workers. What can be done to help my friend? He has under USD 1000 hidden on him in custody. His NY account has over 800K. I believe he needs legal help to pierce the contract with the bank. He has been detained on 3 or 4 occasions since February and continues to be detained and unable to get to NY to straighten on this dire situation. I appreciate any time you can give to this problem. Respectfully, Wendy Chapman

Q: I am no longer in the UAE. I have received the End of Service payment that the bank has blocked. I have asked the bank to release part of the payment (30%) so that I can support myself and my family, and use the rest for the next 6 payments of the 24 remaining payments of my loan. I want to continue with normal loan instalments until the loan is fully paid, but they said that they will forward the case to the collection department. I have always paid my instalments on time and in full, but I have no possibility of paying the outstanding amount. Is there any formal reason that I cannot continue to pay off the loan when I am outside the country? Is this not against Sharjah law to deprive someone of means of subsistence by blocking the funds? Is this not against Sharjah law to put someone in a bad credit situation and thus to deprive his human dignity if he says I want to continue regular payments and has always paid before?

Q: Can a bank freeze my gratuity if my new company is not listed?

Q: Hi, A person had taken AED 150000 loan from a UAE bank. He lost his job and couldn't pay the EMI to the bank on time and his company didn't release his gratuity and demanded surety cheque in order to release his gratuity. So A took B's cheque as surety for AED 75000. Later A says his case was with the court and he got a clearance letter from the court upon paying some fine and now a becomes a defaulter. Still, B is receiving calls from the bank since his surety cheque is with the bank. When A's case is cleared, how can B get back his surety cheque? How Can B safely come out of this? Please advise

Q: The bank had held my account 20 days in advance of my EOSB After I got my new visa and salary letter within the UAE. The bank had unfrozen the account but blocked the full amount of EOSB and asked me to provide a confirmation letter, which I feel is totally wrong. My loan amount is even half of my EOSB. Can I approach the banking court of the UAE about freezing the account and holding my EOSB?

Q: I am 58 years old working in Abu Dhabi. I am terminated from my work due to redundancy. I have a bank loan and my end-of-service benefit is not enough to cover my loan balance. Is it possible for my gratuity to cover my monthly payment to the bank until such time I could find another job? Are bank loans covered by insurance? If I could not find a job and I cannot pay my loan balance, will I go to jail? Please advise on how to settle my loan with the bank.

Q: Hi, I am currently working in the UAE and have a remaining loan with my bank. I am now out of the country and plan to resign. My final gratuity is higher than my remaining loan. Since the bank will automatically freeze my account after receiving my final settlement, my question is: How can I clear my remaining loan and retrieve the remaining money while I am already out of the UAE? Thank you for your answer!

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.

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).