How to lift Labour Ban in UAE?

Lifting 6 month Labour Ban in UAE:

“How to lift labour ban?” is the most often asked question on Emirates Diary. Given that there are numerous possibilities depending on the nature of your contract, there are many different possibilities. In this article I will write about how to lift labour ban if you are Unlimited Contract and you have resigned before completing 1 year of service.

Scenario: 

• Contract Type: Unlimited Contract.
• Employment Duration: Less than 1 year
• Qualification: MBA

In the above scenario, you will automatically face 6 month labour ban from the Ministry of Labour if your employer requests to impose labour ban. If you have a labour ban, the MOL will not process your Labour Approval and your visa will not be processed as a result of this. This means that you will not be able to join a new company, if you have a labour ban.

However, there are exceptions here. Your new employer may be able to lift the ban if they make efforts to follow the rules laid out. Under the Ministerial Resolution No 1186 of 2010, MOL clearly mentions the Rules and Conditions of granting a New Work Permit to an Employee after Termination of the Work Relationship in Order to Move from One Establishment to another. For this to take place, following conditions must be met:

Article 2 of Ministerial Resolution 1186 of 2010

1. There must be an Agreement between the employee and the employer to terminate the employment;
2. The employee must have spent at least 2 years in employment with the employer.

However, the above does not suit our scenario, in which the employee has worked less than 1 year with the employer!! Is there a solution here??

Yes, there is…..Read on!

The same Ministerial Resolution (1186 of 2010) further mentions the labour ban can be lifted if the professional qualifies the salary requirement. Article 4 of Ministerial Resolution provides for exception to Article 2.

The employee who has not completed 2 years of service may be exempted in following cases, as per Article 4, Ministerial Resolution 2010.

• Based on the Professional Levels (Skill Levels), if salary of Dhs.12,000, Dhs.7,000 and Dhs.5,000 is offered respectively to Professional Level 1, Level 2 & Level 3, the labour ban will be lifted.

Thus in our above Scenario, since the employee is MBA (Post Graduate) and if the person gets offered new salary of Dhs.12,000, the labour ban can be lifted.

Download the Ministerial Resolution 1186 (2010)