If one of our employees resigns immediately, could we ask him not to serve the notice period? Who has the right to enforce a notice period in the event of a resignation?
Is it the employer or the employee? Our company is in mainland Dubai and the unlimited contract mentions a two-month notice period. SG, Dubai
When an employee decides to leave a company, they must give notice in accordance with the agreed terms of the employment contract. In this case, the employee should continue to be employed for two months but they don't need to come to work if the employer does not want them to. This is not uncommon in sales roles, for example.
If an employer does not want someone who has resigned to be at work, they can put them on what is known as “garden leave”, whereby the person stays at home for the notice period and remains an employee with full pay and benefits. At the end of the notice period, the visa can be cancelled and benefits paid out.
Alternatively, the company can end a worker's service sooner but this can only be done with the employee’s consent and payment for the two-month notice period. In addition, commensurate pay and benefits must be made in full.
An employee may agree to this if they have a new job but they cannot be forced to end their service sooner.
My company said it plans to reduce my salary. If I do not accept the reduction, what can they do? Can they terminate me and will they pay my gratuity? I have been working for the company for more than six years. EW, Abu Dhabi
It is understood that EW works for a mainland company. No private employer in the UAE is permitted to reduce the salary of an employee without their agreement.
It has always been the case that both parties must agree to any changes to contract terms, but this was clarified in Ministerial Resolution No (279) of 2020, which came into effect a year ago and is still valid.
No private employer in the UAE is permitted to reduce the salary of an employee without their agreement
If an employer is facing financial issues and wishes to reduce a worker’s salary, they can do so for a specified period, but only “in agreement with the non-citizen employee”, as stated in Article 2 of the resolution.
If the company wishes to temporarily reduce a salary, they must follow the guidance of Article 5, which states: “Companies willing to reduce the wages of a non-citizen employee temporarily during the period referred to are obligated to do the following: 1. Conclude a “temporary additional appendix” to the labour contract between the two parties, according to the form attached with this resolution, provided that it expires with the expiration of the term of the contract or the period of validity of this resolution, whichever is earlier ... 2. To prepare the appendix ... in two copies, with each party keeping one of them. The employer shall submit it to the ministry whenever requested to do so.”
If the company wishes to permanently reduce the salary, they still need the employee’s agreement and must then follow guidance in Article 6 of the resolution: “The companies that want to permanently reduce the wages of a non-citizen employee are obligated to apply on the ‘employment contract data modification’ service to obtain the approval of the ministry in accordance with the procedures in force.”
If an employee does not accept the reduction and it is imposed, they should register a case against the employer with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation.
If an employee is terminated for not accepting a salary reduction, they have a case for arbitrary dismissal under Article 122 of the UAE Labour Law. This states: “The termination of the employment of the worker by the employer shall be deemed arbitrary should the cause of termination not be related to work ...”
Article 123 explains the compensation that may be due. “Should the worker be arbitrarily dismissed, the competent court may order the employer to pay compensation to the worker. The court shall assess such compensation, taking into account the type of work and the extent of damage incurred to the worker, as well as the duration of employment and after the investigation of the work conditions. In all cases, the amount of compensation shall not exceed the wage of the worker for a period of three months calculated on the basis of the last due wage.”
The gratuity is also payable in full. The ministry can be contacted through its website or by calling 800 60.
Keren Bobker is an independent financial adviser and senior partner with Holborn Assets in Dubai, with more than 25 years’ experience. Contact her at keren@holbornassets.com. Follow her on Twitter at @FinancialUAE
The advice provided in our columns does not constitute legal advice and is provided for information only
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Series info
Test series schedule 1st Test, Abu Dhabi: Sri Lanka won by 21 runs; 2nd Test, Dubai: Play starts at 2pm, Friday-Tuesday
ODI series schedule 1st ODI, Dubai: October 13; 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi: October 16; 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi: October 18; 4th ODI, Sharjah: October 20; 5th ODI, Sharjah: October 23
T20 series schedule 1st T20, Abu Dhabi: October 26; 2nd T20, Abu Dhabi: October 27; 3rd T20, Lahore: October 29
Tickets Available at www.q-tickets.com
Stat Fourteen Fourteen of the past 15 Test matches in the UAE have been decided on the final day. Both of the previous two Tests at Dubai International Stadium have been settled in the last session. Pakistan won with less than an hour to go against West Indies last year. Against England in 2015, there were just three balls left.
Key battle - Azhar Ali v Rangana Herath Herath may not quite be as flash as Muttiah Muralitharan, his former spin-twin who ended his career by taking his 800th wicket with his final delivery in Tests. He still has a decent sense of an ending, though. He won the Abu Dhabi match for his side with 11 wickets, the last of which was his 400th in Tests. It was not the first time he has owned Pakistan, either. A quarter of all his Test victims have been Pakistani. If Pakistan are going to avoid a first ever series defeat in the UAE, Azhar, their senior batsman, needs to stand up and show the way to blunt Herath.
England's Ashes squad
Joe Root (captain), Moeen Ali, Jimmy Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport - the specs:
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
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Dubai Bling season three
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