Lack of awareness about the labour law is leading to an increasing number of disputes. Most new employees are ignorant of probation rules stipulated in the labour law. A Gulf News survey reveals that new employees borrow huge amounts of money from friends, buy cars and invest in housing and furniture during their probation period, then find themselves terminated from their jobs. There are others who are recruited from abroad by signing agreements with their agents and land in trouble once they arrive in the country. They all go to court and return empty-handed
There has been an increasing number of disputes between employees and employers over probation periods due to lack of awareness and ignorance of the labour laws of the country.According a survey carried out by Gulf News, most of the new employees are not aware of the probation rules stipulated in the UAE labour laws.
The survey also reveals cases where new employees borrow huge amounts of money from friends to buy cars and invest in housing and furniture during their probation period - but soon find that they have been terminated from their jobs.
"The problem with these people is that they mistake joining an employment as a final contract. This is a temporary contract where employees accept the job under a probationary period," Habib Ur Rahman, an Abu Dhabi-based legal expert, explained.
He said this is merely due to lack of awareness about the labour laws. "They go to the court when they are terminated during the probationary period and return empty-handed, as the law clearly stipulates that an employer has the right to terminate an employee during this period," he said.
Many who sign the initial joining contract, with wage and other benefit terms dictated, think these temporary agreements are complete officially-approved contracts.
One expatriate resident of Abu Dhabi, Munir Jan, was terminated from his job after two months of joining.
He recalled: "I thought I had got the job for at least a year. Therefore, I borrowed a huge amount of money to rent a flat and buy furniture, without realising I was on probation and could be terminated at any time.
"I lost the job after two months and did not know how to pay back the money I had borrowed. But luckily, I got job a month later."
Stressing the need to learn about the labour laws of the country, Jan admitted he landed in hot water due to his own ignorance.
Similarly, 44 Moroccan sports instructors recently went to the labour court to help restore their jobs they had lost during the probation period.
Another problem is labourers recruited from abroad. Most of the labourers come from abroad with unofficial agreements signed with recruitment agencies back home, which are not valid here.These employees consider their agreements with their agents acceptable under the UAE labour laws, and land in disputes with their employers.
There have been lots of such disputes, with expatriate labourers going to the labour court en mass after being terminated to challenge the official contracts with their employers.
According to manpower market sources, some of the companies have, on the other hand, been misusing the probation period to terminate hundreds of workers that are brought in just for few months to work on short projects.
Last year, a local company had recruited 33 workers from India, who were abandoned within six months of their employment. The company tried to deport them after their three-month employment visas had expired.
The company managed to deport 18 of them without paying their dues. However, the remaining 15 were rescued by the Indian Embassy, which recovered their due salaries. The embassy sought Foreign Ministry help to solve the problem.
The workers were brought to work on a project in Jebel Ali, which was completed within six months of their arrival in UAE.
The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, however, over the years has been amending its regulations to provide maximum protection to workers in line with International Labour Organis-ation (ILO) principles.
The ministry has made a bank guarantee mandatory for the workers rights, which came in force in May last year.
Employers have to deposit a guarantee of Dh3,000 with banks for each worker. The new law was introduced to protect workers from unscrupulous employers, especially those who fail to pay wages and other mandatory benefits.
The guarantee, issued by a bank operating in the UAE, is valid for one year from the date of issue, and renewable automatically. It can be liquidated, circulated or partially payable on orders by the ministry.
The Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Matar Humaid Al Tayer, has also repeated his warning to companies that exploit their workers and breach their contracts with them. He had also warned that private companies found violating the rights of workers will be black-listed.
"The rights of expatriate workers must be honoured under the laws of the country, and any company found violating them will be black-listed," Al Tayer had warned.
He had also said that there is no room for tolerance when the rights of workers, mainly low-income labourers, are violated and not honoured. The minister assured that the ministry has set its rules to protect and fully guarantee the rights of workers.
"The workers have every right to protection of their interests under the laws of the country," maintained the minister.
Gulf News 2003
