UAE Federal laws give consumers right to get purchased product exchanged within 3 months

‘Goods once sold will not be taken back or exchanged’ is no longer the norm in the UAE, thanks to the efforts of the government to protect the rights of consumers, according to lawyer Abdullah Da’aives.

The UAE has both legislation to protect the rights of consumers and bodies competent to receive consumer complaints against dealers and take action to resolve them.

Abdullah Da’aives said this during the “Good Morning Dubai” programme broadcast on the Sama Dubai channel.

He pointed out that UAE federal laws give consumers the right to get a purchased product exchanged within three months in the case of consumer goods and six months in the case of durables.

The laws give buyers the right to seek compensation if the purchased product is damaged and the seller fails to repair or replace it, he added.The lawyer said buyers must keep the purchase invoice and certificate of warranty to ensure that their rights are protected.

If the buyer fails to resolve the matter with the seller, he can approach the Consumer Protection Department in the Ministry of Economy.

He said consumers must assert their rights if a defect is found in any purchased product instead of simply buying a new one.He added that informing the authorities may help prevent harm to other buyers, particularly in pharmaceutical and cosmetic products because authorities have the right to confiscateall similar products in the market, especially if they are past their expiry date.

The lawyer also stressed the need to activate a recent decision of the Ministry of Economy to ‘Arabise’ purchase invoices since there are many consumers who do not know the English language in which most bills are currently made.

UAE labour bans still enforced — but workers can apply for lifting

Dubai: People working in the UAE can still be banned for up to a year if they try to change jobs, a Ministry of Labour official has said.
The ban can be implemented even when an employee quits his or her job after two years of service.
It can be lifted, however, if the new employer offers the candidate a better position than the existing one and a salary that suits the person’s qualification, according to a scale set by the ministry.
There are still questions about the circumstances in which an employment ban can be enforced when a resident decides to quit their job with a view to securing employment with a new company, but officials say there are exceptions which allow bans to be lifted.
The rules and regulations that stipulate when a ban can be imposed and enforced depend on a number of legal thresholds.
Traditionally, the Ministry of Labour can automatically impose a ban when an employer terminates an unlimited labour contract before completing one year of service.
As a general rule, a labour ban is still “imposed on all expatriate employees in the UAE who are working in the private sector when they want to change from one employer to another if they left the current employer without having completed a minimum of two years service,” a ministry of labour official said. “An employment ban, labour ban, work permit ban are used for the same thing which means one will not be allowed to perform any kind of work in the UAE for a certain period of time and these are imposed for six months, one year, or there could be life ban.”
The official said a one-year ban may be imposed at the request of a sponsor if a worker resigns before the completion of a limited period contract.

A permanent ban could also be given to absconding employees or those who violate the labour law.

But there are exceptions to the rules.
Residents can move to another company if the employee remains under the same UAE sponsor or if the employee has a higher level of education to fulfil a position that is needed within the country.

“Employees who have been slapped with a six-month labour ban for breaking their contracts before the expiry of two years can work for a new company, provided they hold at least a high school diploma and have been offered a good position and salary by the new company.”

He said employees working in the UAE who receive a six-month labour ban for breaking an employment contract within two years can have the ban lifted if the employee is changing job for the companies under the same sponsor.

If the employee has a NOC (No Objection Certificate) from the current sponsor then he or she will be able to move to another company under a different sponsor, the official said.

The minimum salary in a new position is Dh5,000 for high school diploma holders, Dh7,000 for post-secondary school diploma holders, and Dh12,000 for Bachelor degree holders.

No fee will be imposed for lifting the labour ban when these conditions are met, according to a senior administrator at the ministry.

“We are still imposing the six-month labour ban on employees who quit their jobs before completing two years of service, but the ban can be lifted if the new employer offers the candidate a higher position and a salary equal or above the salary set by the minister against his or her qualifications,” he said.

The ministry said that if the employee has violated the contract in any way, then irrespective of resignation or termination, a ban can be enforced.

Women sponsored by family

A six-month ban imposed by the Ministry of Labour on people who fail to complete the period of employment stipulated under labour rules also applies to working women sponsored by their family members.

An official from the ministry said women seeking to change their jobs or leave work before completing the contractual obligation of two years with their employer would automatically attract the ban.

The official said the ban would take effect the moment a woman under the sponsorship of her husband or father cancels her labour card.

He said the mandatory six-month labour ban applies to both men and women, even if individuals are sponsored by family members, and is calculated from the date an employee’s labour card is cancelled at the Ministry of Labour.

“This is an administrative ban, meaning that a block is inserted into the ministry’s computer system preventing an application for labour approval being processed against [the] banned person’s name and passport number,” he said.

The ban cannot be lifted by paying a fine.

Complaints

Some workers have complained that the Ministry of Labour is still seeking approval from sponsors if they wish to change their jobs after two years.

Those affected point to the ministry’s earlier reforms to the labour law which did away with the need for a sponsor’s approval for employees who have been with their sponsors for two continuous years. The workers complained that they were being banned for one year for failing to secure such approval.

The labour rules, which were implemented in 2011 by the Ministry of Labour, allowed workers to switch jobs at the end of their employment contracts without the need for a no-objection certificate.

But a legal consultant at the Ministry of Labour clarified the rules and said expatriate workers would still receive a one-year ban if they failed to get their sponsor’s consent before changing jobs.

“No one is allowed to switch jobs even if they complete many years in their [current job], without the consent of their sponsor,” he said.

He also said the new law allows workers to change employment in cases such as when the company employing them has closed down and no longer exists.

“But those workers will be given one-year ban if they do not file a complaint at the Ministry in less than two months after the [closure] of their company.”

End-of-service benefits in UAE 'must be based' on 'last' salary

Companies operating in the UAE must give their outgoing employees end of service benefits on the basis of their last monthly salary and firms which fail to do so are violating the law, the Ministry of Labour has said.

The Ministry was responding to a complaint by an Arab female doctor who was sacked by her private employing medical company and given end of service allowances that include the monthly salary she was paid when she first joined work.

In her letter to the Ministry during an open-day review of public complaints and applications in Abu Dhabi on Monday, the doctor said her first salary was far below the wage she was getting in the following years after she was given massive pay rises.

“Companies calculating the end of service benefits on the basis of the worker’s first salary listed in the job contract despite changes in that salary are involved in an illegal practice,” the Ministry said in its response.

“Such benefits must be based on the last monthly salary paid to the worker, who should prove this by producing the last salary statement.”

The Ministry asked the doctor to contact its enquiry section to be informed on the legal measures she will take against her employers to force them to pay all her dues.

Dubai visitors can get entry visa on mobiles now

General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs – Dubai initiates M-Visa service.According to a report in Gulf Today, people can apply for entry visa on the website of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs – Dubai and receive the visa as an SMS to their mobile

The new service is part of the smart government initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

The paper quoted Major General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri, Director-General, GDRFA, as saying that the directorate has applied the mobile visa (M-Visa) service for its residents.

The GDRFA completed 35,100 transactions last year up until the first quarter of this year, Al Marri added.

Illegal Dubai residents to pay overstay fines monthly instalments

 Dubai: Illegal residents who cannot pay their overstaying fines are being urged by authorities to take part in a system that allows them to pay their fines in monthly instalments.

Residency prosecution officials with the General Directorate for Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai (GDRFA) started Maysara programme in 2011 to allow those found guilty by the Residency Court of Misdemeanours to pay fines in instalments.
Maysara, an Arabic word which means making things easier, allows illegals who are penalised by the Residency Court of Misdemeanours to make payments on their fines within up to two years.
“Maysara has come to make the life of those, convicted by the court and fined, easier. Hundreds of the requests of convicts to install their fines have been approved by the court in the past two years. Their total sum of fines reached several millions of dirhams,” a senior official from the General Directorate for Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai (GDRFA) told Gulf News.

“Convicts, who are fined more than Dh50,000 by the Residency Court of Misdemeanours can pay their fines through Maysara system,” the official said.

He said convicted persons who received hefty fines for violating the residency law by hiring illegal workers or absconded can make use of this service.

The official said Maysara was introduced to make the process of collecting the fines easier, especially convicts who cannot afford paying their fines in full amounts.

The official said that Maysara also helped in reducing the number of detainees who are fined by to remain in custody until the pay the fines in full.

“For convicts to benefit from Maysara, they themselves, their relatives, well-wishers, or legal representatives can lodge a request at Dubai Public Prosection website to have their fines installed.”

It is required to pay part of the fine as decided by the Residency Public Prosecution.

“The request will be approved by the head of Residency Prosecution or the Attorney General or his representative. The conditions for a convict to benefit from Maysara are that the ruling should be irrevocable and that the convict is financially incapable of paying the fine in full.

“The convict will be asked to sign an undertaking to commit to the instalments. The convicts should also make available a guarantor who will commit to paying the fines in case the convict failed to do so.”

The official said any application submitted to make use of Maysara must be written in Arabic.

“Applications written in any other language rather than Arabic will be rejected,” the official said.