Ask the Law: Your boss cannot force you to resign
You may end up in a weaker legal position than your employer if you do so
Ask the Law questions are answered by lawyer Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba of Al Shaiba Advocates and Legal Consultants
Termination threat
Question 1: A reader from Dubai asks: I have been working for a local company in Dubai for the past two years on an unlimited contract. The company is struggling due to low performance in sales and other problems. My department is forcing me to tender my resignation and I have also been receiving termination threats. They have even started the countdown of my notice period by sending a mail. My two-month notice period has supposedly started from October 1. As per UAE Labour Law, what are the legitimate grounds for termination? In my case, are these valid grounds? Can they really force me into signing a letter of resignation? When should the notice period officially start? What are the disadvantages of resigning as against termination?
Answer 1: As per the UAE Labour Law the questioner should not be forced to resign. The submission of resignation by the questioner will put him in a weaker legal stance than the employer in connection with labour rights. Besides, the end-of-service gratuity will be lower, and in the case of the questioner it becomes a third of his specified gratuity as per the Labour Law. As for the notice period and in case the labour contract is unlimited, the Labour Law obliges all parties (worker and employer) to submit notice to each other if one wishes to dispense of the other, the notice period as per the Labour Law shall be not less than one month and an agreement may be made to increase this period. The notice period shall be effective from the date of resignation or termination of the labour contract by either party. Therefore, if the company fires the questioner, the questioner may claim his rights specified by the Labour Law and also has the right to ask the concerned court for compensation for arbitrary dismissal if he can proves that the company has not acted in accordance with the labour law.
Reduced salary
Question 2: Questioner from Dubai asks: I worked for a company for more than three years with a good salary in addition to other entitlements. Two months ago, the employer sold the company. My problems started then, as the new employer asked me to move to another branch for the company to handle another position on a salary 25 per cent less than the salary I was receiving. I understood later that the new employer intended to fire me and he was trying to force me into submitting my resignation by reducing my salary. Thus, I submitted my resignation as per the Labour Law after providing one-month’s notice. Upon the expiry of the notice period, I demanded the employer settle my end-of-service entitlements but he disapproved and said that he was not obliged to pay for the period in which I was working for the previous employer. How can I obtain my entitlements, who is responsible, the previous or new employer?
Answer 2: As per the UAE Labour article (126) of UAE’s Labour Law which states the following:
“Where a change occurs in the form or legal status of the establishment, contracts of employment that are valid at the time of the change shall remain in force between the new employer and the workers of the establishment, and their service shall be deemed to be continuous. Both the original employer and the new employer shall be jointly liable for a period of six months for the discharge of any obligations resulting from contracts of employment during the period preceding the change; after the expiry of this period the new employer shall solely bear liability.”
Passport security
Question 3: A reader from Dubai asks: I work for a Dubai-based company and one of our activities involves offering equipment such as generators for hire. As usual practice when anyone wants to hire equipment they have to provide us with a post-dated cheque as security for the equipment value but there have been cases where customers could not provide us with a cheque, instead they are ready to give us their passport. Is it legal to hold someone’s passport as security against the equipment rented. If yes, what documentation and paperwork needs to be maintained.
Answer 3: No one may detain a passport as a guarantee, because such conduct is contrary to UAE law, as the passport is considered a document related to the person and shall be detained only by the competent judge.
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