We all know Dubai as a fast-growing metropolitan city that is becoming a hub for international businesses and an influx of investors. With every passing year, more and more students and employees are choosing Dubai to jump-start their careers as well as explore the new career opportunities that this small world holds.
Being one of the few countries that have been able to quickly come out of the long-lasting effects of the pandemic, the UAE with its benefiting laws provides an enabling ground for employees and labourers. One can seek protection under employment laws by hiring a labour lawyer in Dubai.
However, before entering Dubai for work commitments, here’s what you should be aware of!
Visa and Passport Details
The very first step always begins with the visa and passport process. For employment purposes, one will need to have a valid UAE visa and a work visa of minimum three months to enter and work in the country. You can either get this visa from your spouse and gain a part-time job in UAE or ask your employer to arrange the work visa and permit accordingly. Either way, having a valid visa and passport will help you land here.
Know your Rights
Expats ready to fly off to the UAE should be able to familiarise themselves with the worker’s rights. These are a set of legal guidelines related to relationships between the workers and the employers. These rights pertain to wages, incentives, and safe working conditions.
Once you have received the written employment offer, your employer or contractor will brief you about the listed terms and conditions. These are comprehensive and one should be mindful before signing off on all the listed points regarding job title, description, salary, privileges, and complete detail of your work.
These terms and conditions vary from job to job. Signing them will put you in a position where the UAE labour Relations Regulatory Act will govern you. it is always advised to keep a copy of the job letter with yourself. This signed employment contract is submitted to the concerned government department within 14 days of arrival.
Paying the Costs
At the time of arrival, the UAE Labour Relations Regulatory Act requires the employee to pay for the recruitment and employment expenses. These include the fees for the visa, travel costs, and even the post-access costs like the medical tests.
In addition to this, one must realise that the employer is not bound to pay all of these costs if the work ends within the termination period.
Language of Employment Contract
The official language of the UAE is Arabic, from employment contracts to lease agreements to everything else. However, because the majority of the population consists of expat population, some foreign languages are often spoken across the UAE. Airlines, malls, and hotels prefer employing multilingual employees to understand customers coming from different linguistic backgrounds.
In 2016, the UAE law approved the third language to be added to the job letters, employment contract, and annexure. Now, in addition to English and Arabic, employees can choose from amongst 9 languages. These include Bengali, Chinese, Hindi, Malayalam, Nepalese, Sinhalese, Tamil, and Urdu.
Keep Your Personal Documents
The employer asks for your personal documents when applying for the residency visa permit. Once this visa is permitted, one can have their documents back. They will keep them for safekeeping as it is your own responsibility to keep them safe in a foreign land.
Timely Work and Wage System
Within one week of arrival in the UAE, one will be presented with the job contract. However, if there aren’t any actual jobs waiting for you, you will have to report them immediately to the Labour Office. Similarly, if the contract is not the same as the offer letter, one should report them as well. Any sort of employee’s violation can be reported to the concerned office. Labour Offices are very strong and work on the guidelines of labour laws implemented across UAE.
Ministry to the Help!
The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation is there to help the ex-pats if any conflict arises. They can assist you in any problem related to labour, job contracts, terminations issues, disputes, etc. Any employee or labour worker need not worry. They can take their concern up there and get in touch. They reach out and help all labourers, be they, citizens or ex-pats.
The Takeaway
Choosing Dubai to jumpstart your career is a wise decision. However, be mindful of the above-mentioned factors before stepping into the unknown. You can also hire legal services like Davidson & Co to stay acquainted with the process as you begin your work and settle in Dubai.
