Termination and salary certificate UAE

[nautoneer]

Hi Shawarma,

I have read a few posts and your information and feedback is encouraging.
I have two issues that I would like assistance with if you are able. The first is a current situation. Due to the trend as the financial crissis set in, of people taking personal loans and fleeing the country, my current employer is refusing to issue a salary certificate. Is there any provisio in the labor law which allows a company to withold a salary certificate when an employee requests one?

The second issue is that while working for my previous employer, my position was terminated after my probationary period expired. My visa was in the process of being transfered from a company in another Emirate as is the requirement. As soon as the visa was canceled and within days of the cancelation, I was given 24hrs to vacate the accomodation, was paid for only two weeks and left with no visa. I stayed on, accumulated overstay fines (which I paid) and eventualy found work after spending eight weeks in a tent on the beach with my then fiance' (now wife) with no income, money to survive or job prospects.

I have subsequently been re employed and am slowly recovering financialy.

At the time of my dismissal, I went to the labor office in Dubai several times to try and recover what I was entitled to. The official response was that it was an imigration issue as I was now illegal in the country. It has been nearly a year now since that happened and it still frustrates me that I was misstreated that way and left with nothing.
Is there a stauate of limitations on this type of situation? Is it too late to instigate proceedings?
Thanking you in advance,

Regards,

Nautoneer

[shawarma]

Hello nautoneer and welcome to the Dubai forum .

1. This is a public forum so anyone is welcome to answer your questions, not just me .

2. I can't find something in the UAE Labour Law that says an employer must issue a salary certificate on request while employed, but neither can I find anything that specifically allows an employer to deny the issue of a salary certificate. The nearest I can find is Article 125 which applies when employment is terminated. Contact the UAE labour ministry and ask them (and let us know what they say ).

Article 125
The Employer shall provide the worker, at the latter's request upon expiry of his contract, with an end of service certificate, which shall be free of charge and shall specify the service commencement and end dates, total period of service, the nature of the work he was performing, and his last wage and supplements, if any.

3. If you want to make a claim against a former employer then I think you would have to file a court case, especially if the Labour office is not being helpful. I don't know what, if any, the statute of limitations is on such a case. I would suggest you contact a lawyer first, who would also have a better idea of what you could claim and what the chances of success might be. My feeling is that if you are talking about thousands of dirhams then it probably won't be worth your while, if tens of thousands of dirhams then possibly but expect it to take a long time. What might be worth trying is to pay a lawyer to send a letter to your previous employer detailing your financial claim and requesting payment. People might take more notice of a letter from a lawyer.

[nautoneer]

Thank you for your prompt response.

I will follow up on the sallary certy and report back when I have the news.

WRT the previous employer, I tried sending a letter from a lawyer but there was just no response and as there were no funds to take it further, I let it go. The amount is roughly AED 20 000 that is owed to me, possibly more.
If there are any lawyer types out there that can assist with this querie, it would be appreciated.

Once again,

Thank you.