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I have a friend got terminated because she's pregnant. The Managing Director of the company she's working for the past 6 months verbally terminated her contract last July 17 because she was 7 weeks pregnant. We called the MOL hotline and they told us that any verbal termination is not valid, the company should provide 1-month written notice or pay her one month salary in lieu of the notice if it is not properly given. She returned to work the following day, July 18 and the Managing Director told her that he didn't need her service anymore. She's willing to leave the company, she just want to do it properly and informed the manager about the 1 month notice. He told her that he's going to pay that but he don't like her to be around the office. He doesn't even provide anything in writing. My friend was rushed in the hospital that day due to severe bleeding and her lower abdomen really hurts. Through the trans-vaginal ultrasound, it was found out that her pregnancy was ectopic and they need to remove it at once. She was scheduled for an operation at 10pm. Laparoscopy was done and the doctor removed her left fallopian tube, where the embryo grew, because it already ruptured. She was confined 2 days in the hospital. The managing director came and talked to her husband and agreed to pay her dues. That includes her unpaid worked days, which is 17 days plus one full month salary plus ticket going back to her home country. We thought everything will be fine. 1 week after the operation, her husband went to her employer and asked when they can get her final settlement. They told him that she needs to come personally to get it so she waited until her wound partially healed. Three weeks after the operation she came to my employer to settle everything and to get her final pay, they refused to give her the one month salary and told her that they will only give me the ticket cost and my 17 worked days. Can she file a complaint to the Ministry of Labour? The fact that they did not provided her a written notice of the termination. According to the law, verbal termination can be consider null and void. Please help.

I can't give any useful advice about how to file a complaint or recover the money, but I want to say I'm sorry that this happened. All around the world there are millions of women who have lost their jobs after becoming pregnant. Countries need to provide some legal protection for childbearing female workers.

We filed a complaint to the Ministry of Labour and the result was favorable to us. My friend's employer was forced to pay her dues and have her visa cancelled at once. But the next problem is the releasing of her passport. Her employer is not really following the rules in UAE. He holds her passport until the day of her flight. It's not supposed to be like that because no one has the right to hold one's passport...it is a property of the state and not by the individual. He should be ashamed of himself. He was put in court for not following rules and now he's doing it again. I just wish that this guy will be deported soon for non-compliance with the law.

Sadly tamagotchi, many compnies do hold passports - mine does. The PRO will meet your friend at the airport with her passport, this is the way it normally works.

Chocs, you handed over your passport? My husband and I never had our passports held by our Dubai employers. I suspect that mine was going to ask to keep my passport if I signed a permanent contract with them, but I would have said no.

kanelli wrote:Chocs, you handed over your passport? My husband and I never had our passports held by our Dubai employers. I suspect that mine was going to ask to keep my passport if I signed a permanent contract with them, but I would have said no.

Every company I've ever worked for here bar one, has kept my passport. They give it back as soon as I go and ask for it. To be honest I can understand why they do, when they've had several people do runners. Really doesn't bother me.