Questions & Answers - Legal Advice Middle East

Leaving the UAE for emergency while facing cases to pay debts

Q: I lost my job a few months back and have not been able to find a job ever since. Due to no salary, I haven`t been able to pay my liabilities and I currently have 3 legal cases against me. I need to undergo a surgery and I cannot afford to do it here. I would need to visit my home country for the same. If you can, please advise me on the procedure so I can do the same. Thank you

Legal consequences of resignation in a limited labour contract

Q: Good day, My situation is that I submitted my resignation last October 5 effectivity same day, in hard copy. I also emailed it to my manager and sent it on WhatsApp to my boss and manager. They saw my resignation in WhatsApp but my manager doesn`t accept my hard copy because he said that he doesn’t want to have problems. So, I messaged my boss through WhatsApp and he doesn`t seem to care about it. They told me that I have to pay the visa cost before they give me my passport. I talked to the Labor Department and they said I should only pay my employer 45 days of my salary, and I am willing to pay the 45-day salary for resignation but my boss is asking to for the visa cost also. He said he knows his rights and I must pay more than just the 45 days salary. Please help me, I don`t know what to do. I need to get back urgently to the Philippines.

Working on a visit visa and holding of passport

Q: Hello Sir, A friend of mine was offered a job in Dubai on a visit visa, and he is working at the company for almost past 4 months on the same visa. Last month, his visit visa was expired and overstayed. The company had cleared his overstay and has issued him yet another visit visa for a month. Now, whenever he asks the HR for work visa status, he is not getting a proper reply. My friend says he does not want to continue, but the company has the passport and they are not giving him the passport. He knows that working on a visit visa is illegal in the UAE, and he wants to quit. What are his options? Should he contact the labour department or MOL? Will he be deported, fined and/ or jailed?

Civil proceedings following a criminal case for bounced cheques

Q: Hello, My father had a criminal case for bounced cheques. He has previously paid a part of the amount but failed to pay the full amount as his company faced losses and closed. He`s now facing a jail time of 2 years. Now, the same person is filing a civil case. Could you please tell me how would this end? Thank you very much. (Please do keep in my mind he signed personal cheques).

How to preserve your rights upon resignation for salary delay

Q: My salary is delayed for 3 months. Now, I want to resign due to this reason. I am wondering if the employer is allowed to deduct anything from my salary upon leaving due to this reason. Thank you.

Claiming accumulated annual leave days upon termination

Q: My employment was terminated with a proper 30-day notice by the company. I have worked 3 years 7 months and 10 days. I took 8 days per year annual leave instead of 30. Now that I am leaving, I wish to be reimbursed the unused leave. How many days unused leave can I claim according to the law?

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The basis of the end of service gratuity payment

Q: Dear Sir/Mam, What is the labour law reference for basic salary as base computation for EOSB? We applied a fixed monthly wage before. Is that a problem? Thanks in advance.

Employee obligations in a conflict of interest situation

Q: Hi, I am working for a ship management company in Saif Zone, Sharjah. My wife has her own marine certification company. If I am using my wife company as a service provider in my ship management company, and later on my employer came to know that this my wife`s company, is it considered a conflict of interest or any unlawful act.

Can a free zone company open its branch in another free zone?

Q: I`m a partner in a UAE free zone company with telecommunications trade license. Can I open my 100% ownership firm with the same telecommunications trade license in another free zone in the UAE? Kindly advise. If not, then what is the way out? Thank you

Destiny of the customer's cheques issued before the closure of a company

Q: I wrote out post-dated cheques to a removal company. This company has now been closed by the DED, and their license expired in July 2017. This has not been renewed and it has all been confirmed by the DED. I cannot get my cheques back from them as there is no one to contact. I am afraid however that they are still going to try and encash the cheques, which have been made out to the company and not an individual. What do I do please? Dubai Police referred me to Dubai Court but I have not been successful with either of them.

Verification of a work permit serial number

Q: Hello Sir. I received a work permit from a contractor. In that work permit, the transaction number looks like INxxxxxxxxxAE. It contains 14 digits. How to verify whether it is real or fake?

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Wrongfully accused of harassment and losing EoS gratuity

Q: Hi, I need advice. I have been working for the last 30 years, and the last 10 years were with one company. I have received termination stating harassment while requesting for a face to face check with the people, facts were not disclosed. Now, they have informed me that they`ll detain my gratuity amount which I feel I deserve. Harassment case - it was a complaint raised by few colleagues stating improper touching, which was not the actual case. Hence, received a termination for the same. Never given a chance to speak. However, I have not been such a person and have not done such a thing in overall 30 years of service. Now, gratuity has been held considering the harassment clause.

Travel ban check after paying fines at the police

Q: Hi Sir, Good day. If a person had a police case due to an unpaid loan, and he already paid fines at the police station, will there be an automatic travel ban for the defaulter? Thank you in advance.

Neutral party entrusted with the belongings of divorcing couple

Q: I was requested by a couple who were leaving the UAE to retrieve their belongings, as they could not fit them into their luggage. One of them is my friend and co-worker, and the other is a Swiss national whom I only know via my friend. The instructions were to hold on to the belongings until they were able to send me an address and money to ship them to their new location in the USA. In the short time they`ve been in the USA, a string of events had led them to separate. The Swiss national moved back to Switzerland and has been making legal threats and physical harm threats to me if I do not send his belongings to him. Since the bags contain both of their belongings, I have decided to send the bags to my friend in the USA so that the belongings can be divided in front of a divorce lawyer. Does this break any legal grounds on my part? He is making threats to open cases in Dubai and the EU. Is this possible based on these grounds?

Can the bank request a travel ban for a client who never defaulted?

Q: Can a bank ask for a travel ban on a UAE businessman even though the owner never defaulted on any loan payments, ever?

Resignation during the probation period because of sexual harassment

Q: Good day, My name is Roy, and I`m a Filipino citizen working in Abu Dhabi western region as a massage therapist for 2 months now. I have a limited contract, and I want to quit now due to the unhealthy environment here in the company. This is because of the bad experience here with the management and the customers, and most customers here are forcing me to do bad things such as suck their private parts, massage their private parts, and so much more. I cant take this anymore and I want to resign because this is traumatizing me in many ways emotionally and mentally. How can I go without penalty? My manager and my boss don`t let me go and they don`t understand my fear and feelings please help