Question: I have accepted a job offer with a company in Dubai, but am now visiting my family in India.
I was supposed to start the job next week and my entry visa is ready. However, I have another job offer that I want to accept.
Can I decline the first offer? Will it be a problem if I want to return to the UAE for the second job? AP, India/Dubai
Answer: If a person accepts a job offer with a contract under Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation rules, they have to give notice of their resignation. AP is required to give notice to leave the job in accordance with the contract terms.
Assuming a ministry contract has been signed, the company is not going to be happy, as they have incurred costs to hire AP and could even request a travel ban if AP is deemed to have absconded by not showing up to start work on the agreed date.
The costs incurred due to the loss of an employee in this way may be somewhat mitigated by conditions in the new UAE labour law.
Article 9.3 states: “If the worker wishes to move during the probationary period to work for another employer in the State, he shall notify the original employer of the same in writing within not less than one month from the date of his wish to terminate the contract. Then, the new employer shall compensate the original employer for the costs of recruitment or contracting with the worker, unless otherwise agreed upon.”
This is reiterated in article 9.4: “If the foreign worker wishes to terminate the employment contract during the probationary period, to leave the State, he shall notify the employer of the same in writing not less than 14 days from the date specified for the termination of the contract. If he wishes to return to the State and obtain a new work permit within three months from the date of departure, the new employer shall pay the compensation stipulated in Clause (3) of this Article, unless in case of an agreement between the worker and the original employer to the contrary.”
If AP has signed a contract with the first employer, the next one will be liable for costs and he may need to serve a notice period.
If he has not signed an employment contract, which seems unlikely, he is free to start with the next employer straight away.
Q: I have a 10-year savings plan that I took out with an adviser six years ago. The person who sold it to me has left the company.
I now deal with another person at the same company who is very pushy. I don’t want to deal with him, not least as he is very new but also because I feel he is giving me wrong information.
I asked if I could deal with someone else. He said that was not possible and also that the plan can only stay with the original advisory company. Is this really the case? LG, Abu Dhabi
Watch: New UAE labour laws come into effect
A: The answer that LG has been given is not correct. Anyone who has an insurance company savings plan or any other type of policy can choose who they deal with.
They are free to move to another brokerage at any time. You can choose any independent broker to become the servicing agent, excluding banks, who are linked to one company only and cannot offer independent advice on all plans.
Naturally, paperwork is required to transfer what are called the servicing rights, but it is a simple process.
No one should ever deal with an adviser they are not happy with or who is not providing good advice or managing a plan properly.
Keren Bobker is an independent financial adviser and senior partner with Holborn Assets in Dubai, with more than 30 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
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1. Never respond to e-mails, calls or messages asking for account, card or internet banking details
2. Never store a card PIN (personal identification number) in your mobile or in your wallet
3. Ensure online shopping websites are secure and verified before providing card details
4. Change passwords periodically as a precautionary measure
5. Never share authentication data such as passwords, card PINs and OTPs (one-time passwords) with third parties
6. Track bank notifications regarding transaction discrepancies
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Results
Catchweight 60kg: Mohammed Al Katheeri (UAE) beat Mostafa El Hamy (EGY) TKO round 3
Light Heavyweight: Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) no contest Kevin Oumar (COM) Unintentional knee by Oumer
Catchweight 73kg: Yazid Chouchane (ALG) beat Ahmad Al Boussairy (KUW) Unanimous decision
Featherweight: Faris Khaleel Asha (JOR) beat Yousef Al Housani (UAE) TKO in round 2 through foot injury
Welterweight: Omar Hussein (JOR) beat Yassin Najid (MAR); Split decision
Middleweight: Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) beat Sallah Eddine Dekhissi (MAR); Round-1 TKO
Lightweight: Abdullah Mohammed Ali Musalim (UAE) beat Medhat Hussein (EGY); Triangle choke submission
Welterweight: Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW) beat Sofiane Oudina (ALG); Triangle choke Round-1
Lightweight: Mohammad Yahya (UAE) beat Saleem Al Bakri (JOR); Unanimous decision
Bantamweight: Ali Taleb (IRQ) beat Nawras Abzakh (JOR); TKO round-2
Catchweight 63kg: Rany Saadeh (PAL) beat Abdel Ali Hariri (MAR); Unanimous decision
Race 3
Produced: Salman Khan Films and Tips Films
Director: Remo D’Souza
Cast: Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Bobby Deol, Daisy Shah, Saqib Salem
Rating: 2.5 stars
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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The five pillars of Islam
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5