Question: I have been in the UAE for five months and started working in December 2023. Now, I want to resign from my job. Can I leave at anytime or do I have to give them one month's notice? I am still in my probation period, which is six months.
Will they pay me if I say I am leaving? We get paid late every month, sometimes by three or four weeks, and I am worried they will just decide not to give me my pay. RN, Sharjah
Answer: I understand that RN wants to stay in the UAE and take on another job. This makes a difference according to the rules that apply under Federal Decree Law No 33 of 2021, known as the UAE labour law.
“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,” Article 9 of the law states.
Watch: New UAE labour laws come into effect
“Then, the new employer shall compensate the original employer for the costs of recruitment or contracting with the worker, unless otherwise agreed upon,” it adds.
This means that RN should provide the employer with formal notice to leave the company.
The notice period is part of an employment contract and RN should be paid in full for the month.
The law also makes reference to salaries being paid on time. Article 22, which defines the amount or type of wage and its payment, is clear.
“The employer shall pay the salaries or wages to its workers on their due dates in accordance with the regulations approved in the ministry,” it states.
Salaries should be paid when they are due – not when the employer wants to pay them.
If an employee resigns, they should be paid in full at the time of leaving service.
In 2022, there were amendments to the Wages Protection System, which is designed to protect the salaries of UAE employees.
The system should pick up on any late salary payments and if a company is late in paying staff, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation will stop granting it any additional work permits starting from the 16th day of delay.
The employer will be monitored and can be fined, especially if there are significant delays.
If an employer fails to pay salaries that are due, either ongoing or if a staff member leaves employment, a case can be registered against the company with the ministry. The ministry will now be handling nearly all smaller cases itself, rather than it having to go to court, which takes more time.
Q: If an employer terminates an employee and does not request that they serve out the notice period by working, what is the official end date of employment for documentation?
Is it the date when the notice period started or the date when the notice period ended? MT, Abu Dhabi
A: In this situation, even if someone is not required to actually work during the notice period, it is still part of the period of employment.
From the date of redundancy or termination, there will be an additional 30 days of official employment, unless the contract has a longer notice period.
The official end date is the last day of the period of notice and the visa and work permit must remain valid until that date.
If the employee is asked to stay at home, it is often referred to as “gardening leave”.
During this notice period, the end-of-service gratuity continues to accrue, as does annual leave, and medical insurance and all other benefits must remain in place.
The person remains an employee during this period and should not be working elsewhere.
It is possible to end the employment sooner, provided that both parties agree to this, and that the employee is paid in full for the notice period – whether it is worked or not.
Q: I lent my friend some money and she has given me two postdated cheques as security. It is not a very big amount and it was for a good reason but I do want the money back.
The cheques are dated for April and May of this year but I plan to be out of the country from the end of March until sometime in August.
Can you tell me how long cheques are valid for in the UAE? HY, Dubai
A: In the UAE, a cheque is valid for a period of six months from the date it was written, known as the date of issuance. If a person tries to pay with a cheque that is dated more than six months ago, it will be rejected by the bank.
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.comor at www.financialuae.com
The advice provided in our columns does not constitute legal advice and is provided for information only.
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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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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- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
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- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
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