A summary of what you need to know about the consequences of violating UAE labour rules especially if you are planning to live and work in the United Arab Emirates.
In the UAE 88.5% of its population is of foreign national account (according to 2011 statistics). With this in mind, UAE labour laws have been made into top priority for the country, especially when there are countless of reports ranging from unpaid wages to illegal confinement to a house, etc.
With laws in place for the sake of workers under UAE labour laws there is also a Federal Law that gives certainty for workers to not violate any of rules under that labour law.
This article is to provide information for workers in the UAE of what to look out for when it comes to consequences of violations or what they call the disciplinary code – so that workers will follow through the law appropriately.
What will happen if you violate UAE labour laws?
Employers and Employment agencies have a strict procedure of penalties if the labour law is violated, these procedures, consequences and different levels of penalties include:
– Warning
– Fine
– Suspension with reduced pay for a period not exceeding ten days
– Deprivation from or deferment of periodic bonus in establishments containing a system for such bonuses
– Deprivation from promotion in establishments applying a system for such promotion
– Dismissal from work without prejudice to the end of service gratuity
– Dismissal from work and deprivation from the total end of service gratuity or a part thereof. Such penalty shall not be inflicted for reasons other than the ones mentioned exclusively in Article 120 of the Labour Law.
As an employee, it is required from you that you follow rules and regulations. After all, you signed a work contract agreeing to the terms and conditions. So if you have other plans that have come up, make sure that you give proper notice and resign properly. Do not abscond.
While you are doing your job, make sure to know your rights on the policies and procedures if a penalty is imposed on you. Below we share more details of each penalty:
1. Warning
This part of the procedure is self-explanatory but not a lot of people knows that that disciplinary actions doesn’t go straight to fines or suspension, people makes mistakes – therefore it is agreed that once a violation of the law has been made, they are entitled to get a warning first.
2. Fines
If a worker violated the law for a second time they are now subdued to a fine. Fines may be a specific amount or an amount equal to the wage of a worker for a specific time frame. However, fines should not exceed the wage of a worker for more than 5 days. Fines are settled by being deducted from their wages per month, an amount equal to five days or less –in total.
Now, who keeps the money deducted from an employee’s wages?
A fine imposed on an employee is to be entered in a special register with a note of reason or the circumstance of the fine, the name of the employee and the amount of his wage. A special account should be kept for these fines, it should not be used for personal use, and the total monthly fine that is collected should be spent on social welfare for the employees.
3. Deprivation of allowance
This procedure may only be done once per year, this also depends as to how big a violation is, a worker can simply be fined for a month (as stated above) or get a restriction from their periodic allowances. Allowances should not be delayed for more than six months.
4. Deprivation of promotion
An employer can put a pause to an employee’s promotion if the employee violates their laws. However, an employee can only be imposed of a deprivation of promotion for one promotional cycle. That means, if the employee has already rendered their penalty and has met the conditions necessary for the promotion, the employer cannot deprive an employee’s promotion for the 2nd time.
5. Outside of workplace violations and imposing more than one penalty.
When a worker does an act of violation outside of the work place, they will not be penalized. However, if the act outside of the work place is connected to their work or the employer/manager is affected, the employee can get a disciplinary sanction
Remember that an employee cannot have more than one disciplinary sanction on a penalty. For example, if an employer chooses to deduct a part of a wage, it should not be combined with deprivation of promotion or allowance.
6. Time limitation of penalties
There is a specific timeframe allotted for penalties, workers should not be punished for an offence after 30 days of the discovery of the offence. In addition to that, there should be no disciplinary sanction to be imposed after 60 days from the date of finished investigation of the offence (if the worker is found guilty).
7. Temporary suspension of the employee
There are of course extreme cases the employers needs to sanction a suspension of an employee. The worker may be suspended from work temporarily if they are charged with deliberate commission of a crime against: life, property, honour, honesty, or of carrying out a strike.
The suspension period shall be given on the date of the notified incident to the appropriate authorities until the issuance of a decision of further consequences is done. Should a decision be issued for the non-prosecution or the acquittal of the worker, the latter shall be reinstated.
Workers do not get paid when they are suspended. However, if the employer has suspended an employee on a false basis, the worker is entitled to full wage for the whole suspension period.
With all of those consequences in place, it’s a lot easier to handle rules and regulations for employees and employers in the UAE.
Also Read: What is the Average Salary of Domestic Workers / Housemaids in UAE?
Now, how do employers make sure that employees know and follow the rules and regulations in place of their jobs?
Employees are required to read their contracts and sign parts of the contract that states the consequences of violating rules. If for example an employer has more than 15 workers in the workplace, an employment contract signing are for individual security, while employees also add a disciplinary regulation that is required by Ministerial Decision no. 256.
Disciplinary regulations should follow the federal law and should not have any prejudice to the provisions of the federal labour law. Employers can make their own disciplinary regulations as long as it follows the labour law of the UAE, but they are also given an option to use what is given to them by a ministerial decision.
Employers should display the disciplinary regulation, and should be approved by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation. It should be displayed in a visible area in the workplace. It should also be in language that is known by ALL workers.
To summarize, remember that as an employee you have every right to defend yourself against any accusation of violations. Penalties should not be given to an employee if he is not informed of his violation in writing and given a chance to defend himself. An employee must be informed in writing of the punishment to be imposed, the type and amount, the reason and the additional penalty if the violation is repeated.