Unpaid workers have the right to change their employer

If a worker does not receive his wages for a period of two months, he is free to transfer his sponsorship to another employer without the consent of his original employer, a senior official at the Labour Ministry said. Speaking shortly after the 'Weekly Open Meet' at the Ministry for settling labour dispute cases, Qassim Jamil, Director of Labour Guidance said that a mass complaint filed by 1474 workers for unpaid wages has been referred to the Labour circuit court in the emirate. At the open meet, the owner of the employing firm clarified that the workers have been paid their monthly wages for August and September 2009, and promised to pay the outstanding dues without delay. But the Labour Ministry said that the cases have already been referred to the competent court for a decision. Qassim Jamil said that the workers are not under any legal obligation to resume their work if they remain unpaid for a period of two months and are free to transfer their sponsorship to another employer even without the consent of the original employer. On another level, the ministry organised on Sunday a training workshop in Abu Dhabi for 40 labour inspectors with the aim of familiarising them with the ministry's plan for 2010 for intensifying labour inspections to root out violations. - Emirates News Agency, WAM

Expats face swine flu ban after holidays abroad - Healthcare - ArabianBusiness.com

Expats face swine flu ban after holidays abroad - Healthcare - ArabianBusiness.com: "Expats face swine flu ban after holidays abroad"
Expatriates in the UAE on holiday abroad will have to produce a medical certificate proving they are not infected with swine flu before returning to the country, according to a report on Tuesday.From August, any person with swine flu symptoms without the certificate would be refused entry to the UAE , said a source from the National Committee for Combating Swine Flu.

“Accordingly, any company or establishment will have the right to cancel sponsorship if the worker conceals an infection intentionally," the unnamed source was quoted as saying in a report by UAE daily Gulf News.The step was part of strict measures needed to contain the H1N1 virus, the source added.Quarantining people infected with the virus and not allowing them to come into contact with others in public locations such as markets, malls, cinemas and worship areas was vital to curbing the spread of the virus, the source said.The National Committee for Combating Swine Flu is a government organisation set up to fight the spread of the virus.

Dual residency backed by GCC immigration chiefs

Moves to introduce dual residency for professional expatriates living in the GCC have been officially backed by the Gulf’s immigration chiefs, at a meeting in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. The reccomendation will now be sent to each government and if approved would see all expatriates with “first degrees”, such as doctors, engineers, businessmen and lawyers, being free to live and work in all six Gulf states without having to gain new residency permits. This would make it easier for companies to deploy staff to different offices in the region, agreed delegates at the 24th meeting of the GCC director generals of naturalisation and residency departments.

Acting director general of the UAE's Ministry of Interior Naturalisation and Residency Department said he strongly supported the move in an interview with UAE daily Khaleej Times.Brigadier Nassir Al Awadi Al Menhali told the newspaper the UAE was already studying how to implement the system."The UAE supports all the ways to facilitate the expatriates and nationals movement among the GCC countries," Al Menhali said.However, it would be up to each country to set up agreements with other Gulf states to establilsh double residency visas, he added."The GCC director-generals agreed that the GCC residents can enter as usual under the current laws, while each country has the right to approve the mutual residency with the other countries, according to the naturalisation and residency laws and regulations," he explained.GCC residents looking for new jobs would also be allowed to enter other Gulf states on visit visas, before securing employment, he said. "We allow the GCC residents to enter the country on visit visa(s) in accordance to the naturalisation and residency law, and in case of finding a job they can apply to get the residency." Roll-out across the GCC of the e-link immigration system set up between the UAE and Oman was also in the process of being finalised, said Colonel Ahmed Fahd Bu Hindi, deputy secretary general of security affairs at the General Secretariat of GCC.

New visa law 'soon' for Dubai property buyers

A new law that would clarify the rules on issuing residency visas to property buyers in Dubai could be introduced this year, it was reported on Wednesday.

Business leaders say they have raised the issue with government officials who have told them that new regulations will be brought in "soon".

"We believe this has to be cleared. We raised it to the government and the government came back and said there is a law that will come very soon and we feel it has to come," said Hamad Buamim, director general of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry."The law will clarify who deserves a visa in terms of their investment in the real estate. We don't know when it will be out but the government says it will be soon. I think soon means within this year," he told the paper.

Previously, most real estate advertisements boasted of 99-year visa for purchase of freehold property but officials say such guarantees are not within the jurisdiction of any property firm.


Dubai: In a bid to improve the conditions of labourers, the UAE is set to introduce new rules regarding their accommodation and a mechanism for electronic payment of their salaries.

"Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of UAE, will sign a draft resolution on criteria for workers' accommodation," Labour Minister Saqr Ghobash said on Monday. "The requirements will be circulated to all municipalities across the country so as to enforce them on housing facilities of workers," the minister told a seminar on Labour and Human Rights here. "The criteria will provide adequate hygienic and humane conditions for the comfort of workers. The government will not accept less than those conditions," he affirmed.

The minister said electronic payment of workers' salaries will be implemented in the next few weeks. "This will be made possible through a joint initiative between the ministry, banks, money exchange houses and the Central Bank of the UAE," he said. "The project, a core element in the ministry's strategy, will prevent delays in payment of salaries. About 500,000 workers will benefit from this project, he said.

Gobash also announced the Ministry had issued 662,000 labour cards and cancelled 405,000 in the six months from October 2008 up to March 2009. "This means incoming workers continued to outnumber departing peers. The workforce rose by 27 and 32 per cent in 2007 and 2008 respectively," he said.

UAE Labour Law - Gratuity Calculation

As per Article (132) of the UAE Federal Labour Law, and in respect to the end-of-service gratuity we quote the following: A worker who has completed a period of one or more years of continuous service shall be entitled to severance pay on the termination of his employment. The days of absence from work without pay shall not be included in calculating the period of service. The severance pay shall be calculated as follows: 21 days' remuneration for each year of the first five years of service. Thirty days' remuneration for each additional year of service provided that the aggregate amount of severance pay shall not exceed two years' remuneration.