Is the employer required to pay the Repatriation expenses of employees?

Should you receive Repatriation Expenses?

Couple of months back I received an email from an employee working in an LLC company that he was terminatedOpens in a new tab. by the company citing the downturn in business and wanted to know whether his repatriation expenses would be borne by the employer. Although I had read about repatriation expenses under UAE Labour LawOpens in a new tab., I could not answer him immediately as I could not recall immediately the related clauses.

What is Repatriation Expense as per UAE Labour Law?

Under the UAE Labour LawOpens in a new tab., repatriation expenses means Travel Ticket (air ticket) as per the employees contract for himself and the family and also costs of the luggage.

repatriation expenses uae labour law

When I got some free time, I read the UAE Labour Law and related clauses and the Law clearly has provided various measures under Article 131 and here is an excerpt:

repatriation in uae labour law

ARTICLE (131)

Expenses for repatriation of an employee to his place of origin or any other place agreed upon by both parties shall be borne by the employer. If the employee after the end of his contract takes up employment somewhere else, repatriation expenses upon termination of his service shall be paid by the last employer subject to the provisions in the preceding clauses, and if the employer has failed to repatriate the employee and has not paid the repatriation expenses, the competent authorities shall do this at the employer’s expense by way of attachment. If the cause for termination of contract is attributed to the employee, his repatriation will be arranged at his own expense if he has the mean to pay.

ARTICLE (131) (REPEATED)

(Added by Federal Law No. (12) of 1986.)

1. In application of the provisions stated in the preceding clause, the expenses of employer’s repatriation shall mean the cost of his travel ticket and whatever is provided for in the employment contract or in the bylaws of the Establishment, such as the employee’s entitlement to travel tickets for his family and costs for shipment of his luggage.

2. In the cases where the employer provides the employee with accommodation, the employee shall be obliged to vacate the accommodation within a period not to exceed thirty days from the date of his service termination.

3. The employee may not delay vacation of accommodation, thereafter, for any reason whatsoever, provided that the employer fulfils his obligation towards the employee with respect to the followings:

a. Expenses defined in Clause (1) under this Article.
b. End of service remuneration and any other dues assumed by the employer under the employment contract or the bylaws or the Law.

4. However, if the employer raised a dispute with respect to the amount of expenses and dues referred to above; the competent labour Department shall determine urgently the amount of such expenses and dues, within one week of a notification being sent to it, provided always that after such determination is made by the Labour Dept. the employee must be informed forthwith.

5. In such a case, the validity of the thirty days period referred to in Clause 2 under this Article, shall take effect from the date, the employer deposits the expenses and dues determined by the labour Department, with the treasury of Labour Dept. as a trust.

If however the employee has failed to vacate the accommodation after expiry of the said thirty days, the Labour Department, in cooperation with the competent authorities in the concerned Emirate, will take the necessary administrative action to secure vacation.

6. No provisions under this Article is deemed to prejudice the right of employee to litigate thereabout before the competent court.

Article (131-a-1)

(Added by Federal Law No. (14) of 1999.)

1. Employer shall undertake to submit a bank guarantee to the competent labour department. The type, amount, procedures and companies and establishments subject to this condition, as well as other relevant provisions shall be defined by a Cabinet Resolution. Such guarantee shall be for the good performance of the employer’s obligations stipulated in Articles 131 and 131-a herein.

2.Deduction of amounts from the bank guarantee mentioned in para (1) of present article shall be by virtue of a court judgement, except for the following:

1. Return expenses of the employee to his home country or wherever as agreed with employer.

2. Amounts acknowledged by employer before the competent labour department as entitlements of employee. In both cases, the Ministry may deduct such entitlements from the guarantee referred to in Para (1) hereof and pay the same to the employee to settle his dues.

___________________________________________________________

If you read through this, you will notice that Labour Law sets out clearly who should bear Repatriation expenses and at what circumstances!

Explanation of the Repatriation Expenses Article

Article 131 clearly explains that, employer is required to pay the Repatriation expenses. If the employee has been terminated and has secured employment somewhere else, the previous employer should bear the expense of repatriation. If the employer has failed in this, MOL or other Authority will recover this.

If the cause of termination is employee, then the employee shall be responsible for his repatriation expenses.

If employer provides accommodation facility to employee, then the employee will have up to 30 days to vacate the accommodation upon termination of employment. Employee should not delay exiting the accommodation unless employer has fulfilled his obligations such as Gratuity (EOSB)Opens in a new tab..

Rest of the clauses are easy enough to understand and interpret.

It is important that you as an employee or employer should know your obligations and must follow UAE Labour LawOpens in a new tab. at all times.

Have you faced any such issues?? Do let me know.

Deepak

Deepak is a passionate blogger with interests in bitcoin, online marketing, and writing.

25 thoughts on “Is the employer required to pay the Repatriation expenses of employees?

  1. Dear Deepak Sir
    This query regarding the repatriation ticket.

    I am working in a company under RAKEZ. As per my job offer, “ The company will provide you with an air ticket allowance of AED 2000/- once in every two years for you to arrange the flight to your home country”. And that was paid with my salary on the month of the second anniversary. After completing a two-year contract, I am not intended to renew my contract ( unlimited contract) and plan to go back to my home country. But the company not giving my repatriation ticket and said because of am not willing to renew the contract.

    In this case, I have one more quest.
    If I renew the contract ( now contract for 3 years), they will pay AED 2000/- after 2 years and the third year I don’t want to renew the visa, what about my repatriation ticket.
    Please help.

  2. Hi Deepak,
    Appreciate your assistance and you information above was really intuitive and I’m sure you have help people understand somewhat of their rights Kudos….

    I have one simple concern I was redundant from my employer due to all this pandemic, in my package it is stated that tickets and relocation would be paid for myself and 2 family member. When inquired about it from my employer. This is what they had to say; “ticket and relocation once you exit the country you can send us the copy of exit stamp and ticket to proceed with payment”. I don’t think this is feasible as I have already paid for my tickets and have processed with the cancellation of my work visa.
    Kindly advice if you can share any thoughts on it.

    regards,
    Ali

  3. Hi Deepak,
    Appreciate your assistance and you information above was really intuitive and I’m sure you have help people understand somewhat of their rights Kudos….

    I have one simple concern I was redundant from my employer due to all this pandemic, in my package it is stated that tickets and relocation would be paid for myself and 2 family member. When inquired about it from my employer. This is what they had to say; “ticket and relocation once you exit the country you can send us the copy of exit stamp and ticket to proceed with payment”. I don’t think this is feasible as I have already paid for my tickets and have processed with the cancellation of my work visa.
    Kindly advice if you can share any thoughts on it.

    regards,
    Ali

  4. I was terminated from my work effective june 1, 2020, unfortunately I went home to my ocuntry on June 5n 2020 at my expense, I send back my passport to dubai for my visa to be cancelled, my visa now os already cancelled, my question is that, when I ask my company to reinburse my repatriation ticket which I paid from my own pocket, they said that they will not pay me back my ticket because I violate some rules, pls explain to me If they are correct or wrong, thanks

    1. Hey brother,

      I try to post a comment on this but for some reason it shows up as “This comment is awaiting moderation” any idea whats this all about.

      tnx
      Ali

  5. I was terminated by my company on April 27, 2020 due to Covid-19 pandemic. They did’nt provide a ticket for my repatriation, I told them that I will not seek a new employment here in UAE and I just want to go back to my home country. The company said that our contract is unlimitted and there is no free travel ticket.

    I starterd to work in my company on November 21, 2016. My basic salary is 1050 AED. How much gratuity will I get from my company? My company is under DMCC.

    1. Mrrijo, I am not sure about DMCC laws. It should be similar to UAE Labour Law. But pls check with your company.
      Refer: http://emiratesdiary.com/uae-labour-law-2/gratuity-calculation

  6. my company terminated me last april,then they give me only 1200 of my repatriation,until now they still not giving me my graduity and 3 months salary,i can complain my company to labour?

  7. My husband and I are in the process of getting a divorce. I have decided to return to our home country. As I am on my husband’s sponsorship through his company, am I entitled to repatriation expenses as he is still employed and will be remaining in the UAE?

  8. Our company insist that not renewing the contract (unlimited) is equivalent to resignation, thus they have the right to not give a repatriation ticket when it fact, it clearly states in our company manual in the separation policy, “The HR Department shall prepare the final settlement for the exiting employee in compliance with the applicable Labor Law. The elements to be considered for the final settlement shall be as follows: 1. Gratuity… 2. Annual Leave… 3. Repatriation ticket: The Organization shall provide repatriation expenses to the employee leaving the country in accordance with the applicable Labor Law.” Please advice

  9. The 1 Million Dollar question is what is the quantity of luggage the employer has to cover the transportation costs for. Does the quantity depend on the time the worker had been employed for. F.i. a worker being employed for more then 20 years is certainly carrying more household than a person employed for 1 year.

  10. Hi, I have being terminated. I have a question about the cost of luggage. I have being working for this company for one (1) year and 11 months. I raised the issue of extra lauggage, I raised the issue with HR, and they are tellinme that that is not included in the contract. The contract doesn’t mentioned the extra luggage, but does mention the repatriation ticket. Can I expect MOL to be in my favor for a claim, in order to make the company cover the cost of extra luggage, when the contract doesn’t specify who will cover the cost of it?
    The luggage is only extra bags, no furniture.

  11. The LL is very clear on the employers’ responsibility when it comes to repatriation costs. What is unclear is the frame in which the costs are calculated, f.i. is it only the ticket? What is luggage as mentioned above? Is the employee entitled to a certain volume of removal? There is not much been written and since the legal system in the U.A.E. is also based on the British lot is depending on court decisions which I couldn’t find published. Any advise to the a.m. questions?

  12. Hi! I’m working in a real estate company and been terminated due to company shutdown/close. They gave me a termination letter last June 2016 with 1 month notice but my notice has been extended till August 2016 due to my co-worker is still on vacation and my boss said that i should wait for my co-worker till he come back from Philippines. Then when he came back I took my vacation but my boss didn’t give me my leave salary. He only gave me my salary for the last month of my stay in the company (August 2016). I worked there for 1 year and 1 month. Now I came back here in Dubai and waiting for him to cancel my visa and give me my gratuity.

    I would like to ask if my leave salary is included to my gratuity? My labor contract is under unlimited contract and I cannot find any forum stating about leave salary for terminated employees like me.
    Please leave some advice.

    Thank you.

  13. My husband has been terminated without reason, while on holiday and out of the country! Now he’s returned to the UAE and his employer has suspended his pay and advised that the repatriation expenses will not be paid to him! He has 30 days to leave the country, and he’s been told that as to pay the repatriation costs upfront and provide receipts for reimbursement?? Is this legal?? My husband is employed under an unlimited contract by an agency providing HR services to the UAE Government (defence sector). Would legal action be warranted against his employer in this situation?

  14. If for example the company terminated you and you didnt get any job from other company and you decided to go back to your origin and planning to return back after a month or more, the employer should still bear your repatriation expense?

  15. Does this question matters a lot? If yes then get the complete information on the employees laws and then give the answer of this question.
    And this question arises most of the time. So get the answer now.

  16. that’s very great article Thanks for sharing it
    I invite you for the Upcoming event “Dubai Traveler’s Festival”that are going to held on the mos beautiful place of the world “DUBAI UAE” from December 16 to 19, 2015 in “MUSHRIF PARK “, Wednesday at 4 pm.
    For Detail Visit : http://www.dubaitravelersfestival.com/

  17. Hey deep
    I working in the dubai last 17 months on unlimited leber visa so I want to change the job From 2016 it is possible

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