New UAE Labour Law 766: Work Permit Granting (approval) Labour Ban 2016

No Labour Ban!!

MOL has issued 3 new rules through official Decrees:

–Ministerial Decree 764: Standard Work Contracts
–Ministerial Decree 765: Termination of Limited Contract and Unlimited Contract
–Ministerial Decree 766: Granting of New Work Permits

Under this post, I will explain further about Ministerial Decree 766: Granting of New Work Permits

Extract from the Ministerial Decree 766: Granting of New Work Permits

Ministerial Decree (766) of 2015 on Rules and Conditions for granting a permit to a worker for employment by a new employer

The Minister of Labour:

Upon review of Federal Law (1) of 1972 on the mandates of ministries and the powers granted to ministers and of Federal Law (8) of 1980 and its amendments on the regulation of labour relations;

And of the Council of Ministers’ Decree (25) of 2010 on internal work permits that are granted by the Ministry of Labour to workers who are active in the labour market;

And of Decree (826) of 2005 issued by the minister of Labour on rules implementing the transfer of sponsorship;

And of Ministerial decree (707) of 2006 on terms and procedures for granting non-nationals permits to engage in employment in the UAE;

And of ministerial Decree (724) of 2006 on administrative termination of sponsorships;

And of Ministerial Decree (1186) of 2010 on the rules and conditions for granting permission to a worker whose employment relation has ended to work for a new employer;
And of Ministerial Decree (422) of 2015 on the rules and conditions governing the termination of an employment relation.

Decrees:
Article (1)

A new work permit may be granted to a worker upon the termination of the said worker’s employment relation in the following instances:

I. Term contracts

1. The term of the contract has expired and not been renewed.

2. The two parties (worker and employer) mutually consent to terminating the contract during the course of its term, provided the worker has completed a period of no less than six months with the employer; the latter provision is waived for workers that qualify for skill levels 1, 2 and 3, as per the ministry’s classification.

3. The employer initiates the termination of the employment relation, without reason of non-compliance on the part of the worker, provided the worker has completed a period of no less than six months with the employer; the latter provision is waived for workers that qualify for skill levels 1, 2 and 3, as per the ministry’s classification.

4. Either party acts unilaterally to terminate the employment relation following its renewal (irrespective of the period the worker has been in the employment of the employer and irrespective of the date of renewal) provided that:

a. The terminating party notifies the other party in writing of his/her intent to terminate the contract in accordance with the notice period that was agreed to by the two parties, not to be less than one month and not to exceed three months. If renewal of the contract occurs prior to this decree entering into effect, and the two parties had not agreed to a notice period, then the notice period shall be three months.

b. The terminating party continues to honor the contractual obligations for the duration of the notice period.

c. The terminating party indemnifies the other party in the amount that was agreed to by the two parties, not to exceed the equivalent of three months of gross wages; if renewal of the contract occurs prior to this decree entering into effect, and the two parties had not agreed to the amount of indemnification, indemnification is set at the equivalent of three months of gross wages.

II. Non-term contracts

1. The two parties (worker and employer) mutually consent to terminating the contract provided the worker has completed a period of no less than six months with the employer; the latter provision is waived for workers that qualify for skill levels 1, 2 and 3, as per the ministry’s classification.

2. One of the parties acts to terminate the contract and notifies the other party and continues to honor his/her obligations under the contract for the duration of the notice period which shall be no less than one month and no more than three months, provided the worker has completed a period of no less than six months with the employer; the latter provision is waived for workers that qualify for skill levels 1, 2 and 3, as per the ministry’s classification.

3. The employer acts to terminate the contract without reason of non-compliance by the worker, provided the worker has completed a period of no less than six months with the employer; the latter provision is waived for workers that qualify for skill levels 1, 2 and 3, as per the ministry’s classification.

III. For all contracts: term and non-term

The instances described in I- and II- of this article notwithstanding, a worker may be granted a new work permit:

1. It is determined that the employer has failed to meet his legal or contractual obligations, including but not limited to when the employer fails to pay the worker’s wages for more than 60 days.

2. When a complaint is filed by the worker against a business entity that has not provided for the worker to perform work due to its shutting down, provided an Inspection report is produced that attests that the business entity has been inactive for more than two months and the worker has reported to the Ministry during this period.

3. When a labour complaint is referred by the Ministry to the labour court, provided a final ruling in favuor of the worker is issued that attests that the worker is owed wages for no less than two months of work or indemnity for arbitrary or early termination, or any other rights that the employer has abstained from granting, or dues of end-of-service.

In all of cases described in this article, the worker must have met all conditions and requirements of the provisions of the law before being granted a new permit.

Article (2)

No new work permit shall be granted except in the cases described in Article (1)

Article (3)

All those empowered to issue new work permits to workers in educational institutions during the school year shall obtain the approval of the relevant government agencies prior to issuing such permits in accordance with the provisions of article (1) of this decree.

Article (4)

A work permit that is granted in application of this decree shall be made null and void if it is established by the ministry that information the approval of the permit was based on was falsified.

Article (5)

Ministerial Decree (1186) of 2010 on the rules and conditions for granting permission to a worker whose employment relation has ended to work for a new employer is hereby nullified, as are any texts or provisions that are contrary to provisions of this present Decree.

Article (6)

This Decree shall be published in the Official Gazette and become effective on January 1, 2016.

By Saqr Ghobash, Minister of Labour
Issued in Abu Dhabi on September 27, 2015
—————————————–

Explanations

Article 1
Part 1: Limited Contracts

You can join a new company when:

-your Limited Contract expires;
-Both you and your employer mutually agree to end the limited contract if you have completed at least 6 months on the job. The condition of 6 months does not apply for Skill Levels 1,2 and 3. Although MOL has not mentioned what these skill levels are, I think it is referring to: Professionals like Doctors, Nurses, Engineers, Graduates, Technical Skill Workers etc. I will write more about this shortly after I have clarification. But note that your academic certificates will need to be attested as per the existing practise.
-Employer initiates the termination of Limited Employment contract provided you have at least completed 6 months.
-Both you and your employer mutually agree to end the limited contract if you have completed at least 6 months on the job. The condition of 6 months does not apply for Skill Levels 1,2 and 3.(Refer to the precious point). This POINT is a bit confusing to me because this means that your employer or your company can terminate you after 6 months of employment under limited contract. In the previous law, if the employer terminates the contract prematurely, they were supposed to compensate the employee for 3 month salary. Not sure what MOL means by this clause.
-Either you or your company terminates the limited contract after renewal:
-Whoever terminates the contract should provide notice period as per the contract or 3 months if notice period is not mentioned in the contract.
-The terminating party should adhere to contractual obligations; meaning, you should keep working and your employer should pay you salaries and other benefits.
-The terminating party should compensate the other party with 3 month gross salary.

Part 2: Unlimited Contract

-Both you or your employer mutually agree to terminate the employment contract provided you have been employed at least for 6 months. The condition of 6 months does not apply for Skill Levels 1,2 and 3.
-Either you or your employer terminates the contract by informing other party provided you have been employed at least of 6 months; You or your company must serve the notice period. The condition of 6 months does not apply for Skill Levels 1,2 and 3.
-The employer can terminate the contract provided you are employed at least 6 months previously; The condition of 6 months does not apply for Skill Levels 1,2 and 3.

Meaning if you are in Skill Level 1, 2 or 3, you will not face labour ban if both the parties agree to terminate the contract with mutual understanding

Part 3: For Limited Contract and Unlimited Contract

a worker may be granted new work permit:

-If your company has failed in its legal and contractual obligations including not paying salary for 60 days continuously;
-If a business closes and it is confirmed by MOL inspection team;
-If the court rules in favour of employee that he/she has not been paid wages for 2 months or no compensation has been paid for arbitrary dismissal; or company has not paid employee benefits like EOSB.

You as an employee must meet all the conditions and requirements of the law before you can apply for new work permit.

Article 2

No new work permit would be granted except in cases described in Article 1.

Article 3

Educational institutions must obtain other relevant permissions from respective government agencies prior to applying for work permits. This means, a school in Abu Dhabi must obtain ADEC approval prior to applying for work permits for the teachers.

Article 4

The work permit becomes null and void if the claims in the application are false.

Article 5

All previous laws regarding granting of work permits are cancelled after the implementation of the new law.

In totality MOL has removed the 6 month labour ban. This means, you will not face labour ban if you change your job before completing 2 years of service. Note that labour ban will be applicable for Level 4 and 5 under various circumstances.

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