In order to live the UAE, you must obtain a residency visa or be a dependent of someone who has a residency visa. As a result, most people who live here will have jobs or be able to stay on an investor visa (I will cover this at some point).
As a side note, women who are unmarried can stay in the country on their parents’ visas, which is quite useful; men can only do this until the age of 18.
Depending on which sector you work in, the benefits you receive with each job will differ. However, there are some things that apply nationwide and to every employee. This is a fairly wide topic and I expect I will have to add to it intermittently.
We’re quite lucky in the emirates, since your employer is duty-bound by law to provide you with health insurance and a ticket back home. If you have a family, the employer will usually also cover their visas, medical insurance and tickets back home.
Visa and medical test
To get a residency visa, everyone is obligated to take a tuberculosis X-Ray and a blood test for HIV and AIDS, Hepatitis, leprosy and in some cases pregnancy. Except for pregnancy, please note positive results of any of the others will result in immediate deportation. In the case of pregnancy of a woman applying for a job, it is up to your employer to decide whether you should still be employed. If you are unmarried and pregnant, it will be treated as a criminal offense here.
Leaving before your contract Ends
This can be tricky, but things are getting better here. According to UAE Labour law, you aren’t allowed to move from one employer to a competitor-unless you receive a NOC (No Objection Certificate-learn this, you will need one for a lot of things) Usually employers aren’t so kind as to provide you with an NOC, which means you will either have to work in a completely different industry-which for obvious reasons can be impossible-or be banned from working in the UAE for at least a year. The UAE is working to change this rule. This article may help you to understand it better.
Things to be aware of
· Some private companies try to keep hold of your passport when you start working with them. This is illegal, and usually an HR department will back off if you bring this to their attention. They may compromise and take your labour card instead. The Ministry of Labour works very hard to ensure that contracts are adhered and will penalise companies that try to rip you off. The worker's rights are taken quite seriously and your complaint will be taken seriously.
· During Ramadan every employee, Muslim or not, should work 2 hours less in the day. In government companies, it's an 8 hour work day and usually the timings are from 7.30 to 3.30- but 7.30 to 1.30 in Ramadan. In private companies the timings are usually 8am-5pm and in Ramadan 8am to 3pm. However, some private employers don’t follow this rule and will go through extreme measures to ensure their employees work the regular 9 hours. If you do work a 9-hour day during Ramadan you are entitled to 2 hours in lieu per day. Ministry of labour inspectors go round to ensure companies are sticking to the Ramadan hours, and you can contact them to organise a 'spot' inspection at your office if your company is not abiding by the law.
· If you work on public holidays like Eid, National Day etc, you are entitled to the days off. Eid holidays fall on a different date each year since Muslims work according to a lunar calendar.
· When you sign a contract, your company may offer you a ‘furniture allowance’ of around 8-10,000 dihams. You will have to pay this back if you work for the company for less than 2 years. You also have the option of an interest free loan from your company to pay your rent if your landlord is asking for the full yearly amount in one cheque. Try not to do this though, and instead look for a place to stay where the landlord asks for 4 or more cheques.
· Your company medical insurance doesn’t usually cover dental, maternity or optical. You may want to think about an additional medical plan for these things
· Most companies will work through the working week (Sunday to Thursday) with Fridays and Saturdays off. However there are a few businesses that work 6 day weeks (Saturday to Thursday) but the Saturday will be a shorter working day than the rest of the week
This is the link from Gulf Talent, which has a translated version of the UAE labour law for more information.
If you have any questions at all, feel free to comment or email me and I will be happy to answer them. Similarly, if you feel I have left anything out, please let me know. I would love to have positive or negative feedback.
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