Gratuity should be calculated on basic salary

End-of-service gratuity should be calculated on the basis of the basic salary as per the employment contract signed between the employer and employee, the Ministry of Labour said.

According to the ministry, if the basic salary is not clearly stated in the employment contract, gratuity should be calculated on the basis of the last salary paid to the employee, as quoted by Dubai-based Arabic daily newspaper Emarat Al Youm.

Humaid bin Dimas, Executive Director for Labour Affairs, said “the basic wage in the employment contract should be written with the consent of the employee.”

Bin Dimas said end of service gratuity should be calculated on the basis of gross salary if the employment contract is not clear about basic salary.

The ministry expressed its view in response to demands of employees in private firms to calculate end of service gratuity on the basis of the total, rather than basic, salary.

Bin Dimas said: “When an employee signs an employment contract, he implicitly accepts the amount fixed in the contract as the basis for calculating end-of-service gratuity.”

Employees of private companies requested the Ministry of Labour to pass a law calling for calculating end of service gratuity on the basis of total salary because employers often keep basic salary low to take unfair advantage of the law while paying gratuity.

Some said it would be fair if the basic wage is calculated at 60 per cent of total salary.

Rami, who works in an insurance company with a total monthly salary of Dh7,000 said his basic wage in the employment contract is Dh700.

He said he was forced to sign the contract because there was no other alternative.”

Rami urged the MoL to specify 60 per cent of the total salary as the minimum basic salary, especially as the law requires the employee to work for five years in the same company to get gratuity of one month’s basic salary for each year worked.

Mohammed Wanoos, who works in a contracting company, said the UAE regulations allows the worker to stay an extra month after the end of the employment contract, but asked how he could live for a month when the gratuity is enough for only a few days.

Wanoos urged the Ministry of Labour to calculate the end of service benefits on the basis of total salary or determine the ratio of basic wage to full salary.

He said he got Dh1,500 as end-of-service gratuity after he worked for three years in the same company despite a total salary of about Dh7,000 a month.

Bin Dimas said “the UAE’s Federal Labour Law mentions both basic salary and allowance but does not indicate their proportion to each other.

He added that the MoL asks employers to update employee contracts.

He added that the employment contract is signed with the mutual consent of the employer and employee.

The employee knows before signing the contract details of his salary and end-of-service benefits.

EIDA’s fresh warning for card collection delay

The Emirates National Identity Authority (EIDA) has issued a new warning to applicants who miss the 90-day deadline to collect their national cards, saying the card will be destroyed and holders will be fined Dh300.

EIDA’s director general Ali Al Khoury said those who apply for a new card or renewal of their cards must collect them within three months after they receive the first notification by SMS on their mobile phone, adding that Emirates Post (Empost) normally send six notifications to card holders.

“Cards which are not collected within 90 days from the first notification will be destroyed but that does not mean the applicant’s data will be annulled…they will be retained by EIDA and in this case holders must apply for a replacement,” he told the Sharjah-based Arabic language daily Alkhaleej.

He said a replacement can be issued at registration offices or online by filling a new application for a fee of Dh300.

“We call on all applicants to collect their cards within 90 days from the first notification to avoid having their cards destroyed,” Khoury said.

He said EIDA, which is overseeing a landmark nation-wide ID project, has signed agreement with Empost to deliver cards to all applicants in their respective emirates. “Empost sends six SMS in English and Arabic to the mobile phones of the applicants asking them to come and collect their cards,” he said.

Khoury’s comments follow growing public complaints that cards end up at Empost centres located far from their areas. Others say that a 90-day deadline is not enough as they could be outside the UAE for more than three months.

“Last month, I had to take a day off work to travel nearly an hour outside Abu Dhabi to collect my card…I applied in Abu Dhabi city but Empost informed me my card is in Suweihan, which I have never visited,” Imad Hariri said.

In press remarks last week, EIDA said it is planning to replace the present delivery system with on-the-spot facility that allows holders to receive their renewed cards just after they apply at registration centres.

“Eida has gone a long way in addressing this problem,” Eida Ali Mohammed Al Khoury said after an Authority meeting on Tuesday.

“We are in the process of creating what is termed as decentralised typing centres…four such centres will be set up on a trial basis soon…they will allow applicants to receive their cards within minutes.”

A company cannot increase six-month probation period - UAE Labour Law

More than 7 months ago I worked in a company on a contract for limited period. After completing six months of service my company terminated my contract saying that this termination is within the probation period as per the company and the company has the right to do so because I did not pass the probation period, and they said I am not entitled to end of service or termination compensation because I did not complete one year in service. I have learnt from the company that the probation as per the company system is for eight months, not six months. Also, I was informed that in accordance with the Labour Law the period of six months is the minimum and maybe agreed to increase it according to the company system and interest. Is this true? What is my legal position in this case as I have signed a letter in this regard and agreed on the probation period which is eight months? What about my termination as per the labour law. Is it within the probation period or after, and what is my right in this regard?

Article no37 of the Federal Labour Law No8 of 1980 states the following. “A worker may be engaged on probation for a period not exceeding six months, during which his service may be terminated by the employer without notice or severance pay: provided that a worker shall not be engaged on probation more than once in the service of any employer. Where a worker successfully completes his period of probation and remains in his job, the said period shall be reckoned towards his period of service”. Therefore, based on this article no agreement shall be made to increase the probation period and the company has violated the labour law because they have terminated the questioner’s limited contract after the probation period and the company must compensate the questioner by paying three months full salary plus other end of service rights.

Questions answered by Advocate Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba of Al Shaiba Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Expatriates' ID card deadline extended in three emirates

Residents of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah whose residence visa expires this year can register and renew ID cards at the time of renewing their visas. They will be exmpt from fines, said Emirates Identity Authority (Eida).

According to an 'Emarat Al Youm' report, more than 683,000 residents in the three emirates will benefit from the new rule.

Eida had earlier set October 31, 2011, as the deadline for all expatriates in the UAE to renew ID cards. Thereafter, they were required to pay Dh20 fine per day, with a maximum Dh1,000.

The Authority said the decision to reshedule registration deadlines was taken because of the demands from a large section of the population in the three emirates to extend the deadline, especially from unskilled class.

Expatriates in Sharjah are required to register and renew their ID cards before February 1; Abu Dhabi residents before April 1; and those in Dubai before June 1.

UAE nationals advised not to marry foreign women

The UAE nationals have been advised not to marry foreign women due to social, legal and financial complications which arise following such marriages, said a renowned lawyer.

Speaking at the Noor Dubai Radio, Isa bin Haider, CEO of Bin Haider Advocates & Legal Consultants in the UAE, said a large number of cases are pending before the courts due to such marriages.

He pointed out that the young men marry foreign women not to make family but to get rich. But if the husband's income gets depleted, the foreign wives create problems which lead to court cases.

Bin Haider urged the UAE youths to marry the Emarati women who follow the same traditions and customs as men.

He also advised the young nationals not to make big commitments with regard to alimony at the time of marriage and follow the rules.

He said a decree by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, fixed it at  Dh50,000 which applies only in case of marriages with the Emirati women.

While the marriages of UAE nationals with foreign women will be subject to what was agreed upon in the marriage contract with regard to alimony.

Bin Haider also informed that the second marriages have additional financial burdens such as leading the young men to deeper debt.

He called for dialogues between couples and urged resorting to solving family problems through discussions and listening to other party’s concerns. He emphasised that if husband listens to wife’s grievances, it will help solve a number of family problems and will lead to a happy life.

According to the National Center for Statistics, most of the marriages by UAE nationals with foreign wives end in divorce. For instance, there were 1,798 marriages with foreigners in UAE last year, and 695, or 39 per cent, of these marriages had ended in divorce.