Q: An acquaintance of mine has been put in police custody as she was working in Dubai in a company that was involved in an employment fraud. She is on a visitor visa which is expiring in a few days. She has no money. The employer has fled the country. They are taking her to court & will provide legal aid. There are 3 more people like her from India - who have been caught in this. All of them were promised a working visa but were actually working on visitor visas. How long these cases last? How much you pay for bail? What will happen to her visa (she will have to stay till the case is finished - I guess)? What can she do in terms of documents, statements, affidavits to prove her innocence?

Q: Ma’am/sir, I just want to ask if we have a right to complain at the labor office. We are working on a company based in Business Bay, Dubai since October 2019. The employer asks us to work though we don't have working visas. We agreed because he said he will process the visas before the end of the month as he needs to see if we are capable to do the job. After a month, he said he will process our visas since we are doing well. We’ve waited for a month then, suddenly, he said we need to wait for 3 months because we are still on a probationary period. So we keep on extending our visit visas. After 3 months, he said he will process it but till now we don't have our visas. Most of my colleagues' visas are already expired and he didn’t give us our salary from last month. He doesn’t come to the office too and doesn’t reply to our messages. Can we still get our salaries from him or even fix our visas? Thank you in advance!

Q: Hi. I am here in the UAE on a visit visa. A company gave me an offer letter, but it's already 2 months since I'm working here and still, they did not process my employment visa. Now, my visit visa is going to expire soon. If they do not make my visa, can I file a case on the basis of offer letter? Where can I go for justice, and what do I have to do? Please advise me. Thanks

Q: Hi, I am a salon owner. A staff member, without informing me, went to work at another place. The CID caught him and charged me with a criminal case and a fine of AED 50,000. What should I do now?

Q: Hello, Kindly let me know the statutory provisions relating to the penalty for letting employees work without a visa and the amount of penalty to be paid by the employer.

Three new ministerial decrees containing a new set of rules for the labour market were issued by the UAE Ministry of Labour last year and came into force on the 1st of January this year. The decrees are expected to alter the contractual relationship between employers and workers in the UAE.

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 UAE Penal Code, like all other laws, addresses the crime of fraud in Article 399 of the UAE Federal Penal Code, which stipulates that whoever seizes, for himself or another, a movable property, or obtains a document or signature thereon, cancellation or destruction thereof or amendment thereto by fraudulent means, or by assuming a false name or capacity, where such an act leads to deception of a victim and leads him to surrender shall be punished by imprisonment or fine.

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).

According to this Decree, tentative approval to admit a foreign worker for the purpose of employment in the UAE cannot be granted until an Employment Offer that conforms with the Standard Employment Contract is duly signed by the employee and presented to the Ministry of Labour.