UAE Legal Resources - Legal Advice Middle East

Forcing an employee to accept cancellation without any dues

Q: Dear Ms Khan, I signed a job offer on Nov 2017 and worked for 2 years. The labour card & visa expired on 27 Nov 2019. The employer did not renew/cancel/pay salary from Nov. On 5 Jan 2020, I resigned. On 6 Jan 2020, the HR manager acknowledged the receipt of my resignation. I filed a complaint with MOHRE. The employer attended the meeting and accepted my resignation without notice period. He also agreed to verify and settle DUES within 3 days. MOHRE closed my complaint. Now, the employer`s legal counsel is threatening to file a case and contest on grounds of Breach of Contract & Conflict of Interest. They are forcing me to accept cancellation without any dues. My questions are: 1: Are the employer`s actions legal? 2: Can I re-open my MOHRE complaint? If the Employer is not agreeing to MOHRE mediation and goes to court. What is the prescribed time frame to resolve the case? 3: Because my visa and EID have expired, I am not able to travel or even get medical treatment for myself. What are my options? Thanks!

What to do if the visa is expired and a travel ban is imposed

Q: A travel ban is in place and my visa is now expired. This happened because of the non-payment for child maintenance. As I do not have a visa, I am unable to work and, therefore, unable to make payments. What are my options? Would I be arrested because I am an illegal resident without a visa?

The consequences of canceling the sponsoring family member's visa

Q: Dear Madam, Currently, I am residing in the UAE on a sponsorship visa (valid till 26/01/2020) of my husband and working with UAE work permit which is valid till 02/02/2020. Currently, my husband`s visa expired and, due to some internal issues, his visa is not renewed and subsequently, it will affect the renewal of my visa also. So, in this situation, what can I do? Do I need to cancel my visa and go back to the home country until his visa issuance problem is resolved? Would this cancellation affect my work permit?

Terminating a limited labour contract by the employee

Q: Hi Mam, I had terminated my 2-year limited contract with properly giving a notice of one month and serving the notice period to the best of my abilities. My employer has still not paid my 2 months salaries and now has blocked my number. I have filed a complaint with the labour and they are contacting him over the phone but to no avail. I have been given an appointment at Tawafouq centre now. Please advise on the procedure.

Handing over the passport to the company for visa cancellation

Q: Should I hand over my passport to my employer for free zone visa cancellation?

Abandoning wife and child in home country without maintenance

Q: Dear lawyer, I want to ask about my husband who brought me to Pakistan along with my 4-year-old son on vacation and forcefully took my son`s passport from me and left me all alone with the child without any expenditure. I am on job visa and my son is under father sponsorship. Now I cannot travel back with my child because my inlaws are holding the passport for my son and blackmailing me that they will forcefully take my child. I want to come back to the UAE as I have to report to my employer but I need my son`s passport. My husband blocked my number and closed communication when he went back.

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القانون المطبق حال الطلاق على زوجين من جنسيتين مختلفتين

س: أنا مغربي الجنسية مسلم ومتزوج بفلبينية مسيحية، وتم عقد الزواج في الفلبين (زواج مدني). نعيش في إمارة أبوظبي، ولدي منها بنت عمرها سنتين. كيف يُطبَّق القانون الإماراتي عند الطلاق؟ وماذا يتم بخصوص الوصاية على الطفلة؟

إمكانية تجديد عقد الإيجار لمدة شهرين فقط

س: السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته، أنا مستأجر في إمارة أبوظبي. انتهت مدة الإيجار وطلبت من المؤجر مدة شهرين إضافيين أقوم بعدها بإخلاء الفيلا، رفض المؤجر ذلك وطلب أن أُجدد العقد لمدة سنة فرفضت أنا ذلك. هل يمكنه إجباري على الإخلاء مع أني مستعد أن أدفع له إيجار الشهرين؟ ما الإجراء الصحيح؟

Issuing an employment visa while there is a bounced cheque police case

Q: I have a bounced cheque police case (AED 203,000) on my name. I want to apply for an employment visa but I don`t know if this will be approved. I have spoken to my bank and they told me they are considering dropping the case if I pay a downpayment of AED 16-20k. I cannot pay this amount now. I can pay after the employment visa is stamped. I don`t know if there is a travel ban on my name. Which one restricts me from applying for the visa; the travel ban or the police case? Also, am I allowed to work without a visa to come up with the amount to clear the dues? I don`t have anyone to borrow from. I don`t want to leave the country. I want to settle my dues and legalize my status. There are war and political instability in my country and I have been here since 1992 with no legal issues. With the police case, is someone going to come to arrest me?

Filing a case when the handover of an apartment is not expected to be on time

Q: Hello, I purchased an off-plan apartment in Aug 2017 from a developer in Dubai. The payment plan is 50% prior to handover, 50% on handover. The property has been registered with Oqood, 30% have been paid to date as per installment schedule. The anticipated handover date was supposed to be October 2019. The developer extended the handover date till October 2020 as per the 12-month buffer they have under contract. They have claimed that the delay is due to their subcontractor going bust, so they have had to kick them out and replace them with a new one. As of Jan 2020, work has not started again on the project. My questions are: 1- Given the progress rate to date (30%), it is unlikely that they will be able to complete it on time. Can I take them to court now for an expected breach of contract? 2- Can they claim that their initial subcontractor going bust is a Force Majeure? Noting that they have never officially communicated this information to their customers (this was only mentioned verbally during a call).

Termination Without a Valid Reason - What Can You Do?

An interview-format article covering the topic of employment termination without a valid reason in the UAE. This is from the legal podcast of lawyer Ludmila Yamalova, the founder of Lawgical with LYLAW. Ludmila discusses the aspects of termination, like notice periods, end of service benefits, arbitrary dismissal, unpaid salaries etc.

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Failing to Honour Bounced Cheques in Loans and Other Transactions

An interview-format article covering the topic of loans and bounced cheques in the UAE. This is from the legal podcast of lawyer Ludmila Yamalova, the founder of Lawgical with LYLAW.

Can My Employer Hold My Passport?

An interview-format article covering the topic of an employer demanding to hold an employees passport. This is from the legal podcast of lawyer Ludmila Yamalova, the founder of LAWGICAL with LYLAW.

Time frame from filing a labor case till receiving the due benefits

Q: Hi, My labor case has been going on for 6 months now. The hearing started in Jul 2019. Dubai Court kept on conducting hearings until I received my first judgment in Nov 2019. However, it was later changed to (For Investigation) and Adheed Centre advises that I must bring a witness to the court. I did bring a witness to the court during the hearing and the judge asked my witness questions and the other party witness as well. The following hearing was in Dec 2019 and the judge pronounced another judgment schedule in Feb 2020. My demand was just my End of Service Benefits which is About AED 45,000. My questions: a) Why was not my first judgment in Nov 2019 executed instead of asking me to bring a witness? b) Why does it take 6 months for my case? c) Could this judgment in Feb 2020 be my final judgment? d) If so, how long would it take to receive my End of Service benefits money? Regards,

سلطات قاضي التنفيذ في قضية عمالية فيما يتعلق بتقسيط المبلغ وتعيين حارس قضائي

س: السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته، الأستاذ/ أيمن المحترم، لدي عدة أسئلة أرجو من سيادتكم الإجابة عليها. وإذا وجدت مواد قانونية تؤيدها أو تمنعها، أرجو ذكرها. أولاً: هل يحق لقاضي التنفيذ (صلاحياته) تقسيط المبلغ المحكوم به في قضية عمالية بعد اتخاذ إجراءات التنفيذ بدون علم المُدَّعي؟ ثانيًا: هل يجوز قانونًا تعيين حارس قضائي علي موجودات ومنقولات محجوز عليها في قضية عمالية بدون التحفُّظ على جواز سفر الحارس القضائي؟ ثالثًا: في حالة مغادرة الحارس القضائي للدولة وإلغاء إقامته بدون إعلام المحكمة لاستبداله، ما الإجراء القانوني الذي أتبعه؟ رابعًا: حين أقوم بكل إجراءات التنفيذ بنفسي ومع وجود ملفات مُشارة في قضيتي، هل يوجد المنفِّذ النشيط لاستلام حقوقي أولاً بدل القسمة؟ أرجو الإفادة ولكم جزيل الشكر! ووفقكم الله وسدد خطاكم!

Is it possible to cancel the visa of an employee without his knowledge?

Q: Can the employer cancel an employment visa without the knowledge of the employee?

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