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My friend wants to break her contract and leave the country. She has been asked, by the company, to pay back the expenses on getting her the residence visa.

is this legal?

not sure but they don't have much leverage

only thing they could do is list her as absconding-- then she can't ever visit/transit thru dubai again

if she's willing to accept that, then there's nothing else they can really do

linelefevre wrote:My friend wants to break her contract and leave the country. She has been asked, by the company, to pay back the expenses on getting her the residence visa.

is this legal?

Depends on what contract your friend is on. i.e Open or fixed. If it is fixed and she is breaking the same then she would end up paying 1 1/2 months salary and not get any benefits I believe.

But on an open contract if she is going before a year then she will automatically get a 6month labour ban.

She does not have to pay any money interms of visa charges to the comapny unless states in her offer letter and her contract.

Look at the labour contract in sticky to get a better idea of what I said.

Cheers

devilsdiciple is right...
although it is a little more complicated than that...

have a look at the sticky page http://www.dubaiforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=11239

in theory the employer is to bare all the processing expenses, in practice most employers will deduct a pro-rata amount (of the visa and residency processing) fee from their final settlement if the contract is terminated prematurly. the law is grey in this respect, as it states the employer shall bare - but in the same breath your friend is breaking the contract - so the contract has not run its full term. the other issue is that they can also refuse to pay her final air ticket home (which is quiet legal).

send me some more details as it is hard to evaluate the situation from the two lines that you sent through. there may be other avenues to explore, for example - how long has your friend been in the contract, type of contract (limited or unlimited), why your friend wants to end her employment? did the employer breach the contract in any way that can be exploited (non-payment) etc..

post the information here and i will answer as best as possible (if i can) - questions like these are very pertinent and of value to a lot of people!

thank you so much for your replys. i'm going to have my friend look at your response, she will better know the answers to the questions you asked.

Liné

Hi, I'm the lady breaking the "limited" contract. I have only been here in Dubai for 2 months on the visa. My job is very physical, more than I had anticipated, and I want to change professions. The visa is in Media City, which I understand is a free zone, hence I shouldn't be banned from Dubai...please correct me if I'm wrong on that. I found out from the immigration department that it is against the law with or without a contract for an employer to make the employee reimburse the visa amount. I understand that I will be responsible for flight costs etc., but do not wish to pay for the visa.

I may wish to stay in Dubai and would not want to be banned.

Any information you may have on this would be much appreciated.

Many thanks,
Christine

hi there christine,

yes you are correct. there is no ban issue with visa's issued through the free zone. can you tell me are you working on a visit visa or have they applied and physically issued you with a residency visa? have they provided you with a labour card yet?
if i'm not mistaken you would possibly still be under a probation period, this is normally 3 months, and this would be stated on your labour contract. within this time you or the employer can terminate the contract (albeit a limited term contract) - as you are working in the FZ you would not be banned, however if you were working in dubai and terminated during the probationary period you would incure the ban.

they may not deduct any monies from your salary, unless this is a specific term of the contract, which normally it is not, meaning it would have to specifically have been included.

you normally have to sign a decaration stating that you have recieved your final settlement before your labour card can be cancelled. herein lies the problem, if you refuse to sign it your labour card/ contract cannot be cancelled - the problem for you being that you cannot legally apply and work for another company as you are still registed with your current employer. conversely, if you refuse to sign the employer would be compelled to carry on paying labour dues and renewals on your behalf to the labour department even if you were not in the company any longer... this is really a catch 22 situation.

the other problem is that you cannot go to the dubai labour department and claim that you were employed under false pretenses - as it is under the control of the FZ authority.

yours is a difficult situation. what i would suggest is that you confront your employer (or his pro) regarding the charges, most employers bank of the fact that the employees are not fully clued into the workings of the labour law, they use this "bullying" tactic to basicly extort restitution from them.
i would be very frank, and sinsere sounding with them. state the facts to them, (better still put it in writing)that:
a) you have contacted the labour department and have sought council from them regarding your position.
b) give them the name and contact number of the person at the labour office - unless you bluff them of course
c) that the labour department has given you the following information, that in terms of the labour law "The rules and regulation of the Ministry of Labour forbid the employer from charging the employee the recruitment fees or any other expenses paid to the Ministry of Labour or the Naturalisation and Residency Administration including visa, residence and other fees. Such expenses are imposed on the employer and should not be deducted from the employee's gratuity even if the contract is terminated by the employee's part. "

be warned though... that they may then "try" to claim compensation from you through article 116 regarding the premature cancellation of a limited term contract (the equivalent amount to 1.5 months salary), which as far as i can see is also covered within the probation period!

be firm, sound authorative on the issue - you may find a strongly worded letter serves the perpose. they will normally back down if they feel you have approached the labour department for advice. on the down side they may call your bluff (see above regarding article 116)..

good luck and let me know how it goes.

Thank you so much for the information. I hope it won't get that complicated but if it does I think I'll be prepared.

Will let you know how it goes.

Thanks again,
Christine