ABU DHABI // Expatriates who lose their jobs and who want to sue their former employers have been warned to proceed carefully.
The Ministry of Interior has told ex-employees that if they fail to adhere to proper legal procedures they could be fined or even deported.
It said that disgruntled workers must first take their complaint to the Ministry of Labour. If that fails to resolve the dispute, then they may file a lawsuit with the courts.
However, it stressed that in filing their legal complaint, they had to secure a letter from the court, which they then had to send to both the Department of Naturalisation and Residency and the Ministry of Labour.
The letter would confirm they have a legitimate case pending with the court and should be entitled to an extension of their residency visa.
Lt Col Rashid al Khadar, the head of the legal affairs department at the Ministry of Interior, said this would allow plaintiffs to remain in the country while awaiting a ruling on their case. Otherwise, they will be considered as being in the country illegally.
Lt Col al Khadar said a worker with a pending case against a former employer could obtain a six-month, temporary work permit from the Ministry of Labour, which could be extended until the court rendered a verdict.
He said if a labour case dragged on for several months, the Ministry of Interior could inform the court it did not object to the employee's visa being transferred to a new sponsor.
"As long as they have genuine cases against their employers, they will have the full support of the ministry," Lt Col al Khadar said.
Typical claims being filed against employers amid the global economic downturn include failure to pay salaries and gratuities, refusal to cancel labour and residence permits, and asking workers to say they had received end-of-service benefits when they had not.
Residency permits are linked to employment and foreign workers are given a month to leave the country when their residence and work permits are cancelled or expire.
"There are so many companies in financial trouble who have terminated the services of their employees without giving them their salaries and end-of-service benefits," said Karunagappally Shamsudeen, an advocate at Al Kabban Advocates and Legal Consultants in Dubai.
"Other companies have been sending their workers on a long or extended leave. If they are outside the country for more than six months, they cannot re-enter the country unless they obtain the necessary approval from the immigration authorities.
"I am currently handling 150 labour cases and seven immigration cases. I have a client who has filed a case against his employer. He received a letter from the clinic, which had closed, that his services were no longer required.
"He is asking for his salary, gratuity and an additional three-month salary as compensation for arbitrary dismissal."
Mr Shamsudeen warned that laid-off workers had to stay in the country to receive their end-of-service benefits, and said it would be difficult for employees to file a complaint once they had signed visa-cancellation forms, as the forms state they had received all their dues from the employer.
He said he had also handled several cases of employers filing false absconding reports and asking the Ministry of Labour to blacklist their workers.
Workers who have bank loans and credit card bills have to settle them before leaving the country, Mr Shamsudeen said, as employers normally notify the banks of contract terminations.
Under immigration laws, people holding expired or cancelled residence visas are fined Dh25 a day for the first six months.
The fine doubles for the next six months to Dh50 a day. They are Dh100 a day for those who have overstayed by more than a year.
People who have illegally stayed in the country after the expiry of their visit visas face a fine of Dh100 a day. But at any point they can be deported on a case-by-case basis.
rruiz@thenational.ae
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
Muguruza's singles career in stats
WTA titles 3
Prize money US$11,128,219 (Dh40,873,133.82)
Wins / losses 293 / 149
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash
Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash still rules. Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to dominate the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.
Origami had a head start when it introduced a QR-code payment service in late 2015 and has since signed up fast-food chain KFC, Tokyo’s largest cab company Nihon Kotsu and convenience store operator Lawson. The company raised $66 million in September to expand nationwide and plans to more than double its staff of about 100 employees, says founder Yoshiki Yasui.
Origami is betting that stores, which until now relied on direct mail and email newsletters, will pay for the ability to reach customers on their smartphones. For example, a hair salon using Origami’s payment app would be able to send a message to past customers with a coupon for their next haircut.
Quick Response codes, the dotted squares that can be read by smartphone cameras, were invented in the 1990s by a unit of Toyota Motor to track automotive parts. But when the Japanese pioneered digital payments almost two decades ago with contactless cards for train fares, they chose the so-called near-field communications technology. The high cost of rolling out NFC payments, convenient ATMs and a culture where lost wallets are often returned have all been cited as reasons why cash remains king in the archipelago. In China, however, QR codes dominate.
Cashless payments, which includes credit cards, accounted for just 20 per cent of total consumer spending in Japan during 2016, compared with 60 per cent in China and 89 per cent in South Korea, according to a report by the Bank of Japan.
The End of Loneliness
Benedict Wells
Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins
Sceptre
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Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.