# DMCC Visa



## saji123 (Jul 1, 2014)

Hi,

I am from outside UAE and planning to shift to Dubai. I am in discussion with a company in DMCC who says that,

1) i shall be given a Free Zone Visa and an unlimited contract. And any time i leave the company, a 6 months bann shal be imposed on me. Is that true? or legal?

2) They are asking me to sign a bond of RS. 5 lakhs INR which they shall break or go legal against me if i leave the company within 2 yrs.


Is the Labor Law rules applicable for Free Zone visa at DMCC? IF yes, Are the above mentioned points as allowed as per the Labor Law?

Please reply.


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## ExpatnKids (May 2, 2014)

They are wrong about the 6 month ban. They do not have the authority to impose a ban as a freezone company. And Ministry of Labor doesnt impose bans on freezone firm employees. However they may be talking about a non-compete clause, which prohibits you from working for a competing firm for 2 years....which essentially means that you cannot work within DMCC..but you can work elsewhere in the UAE...in another freezone or in a non-freezone company.

The bond they are asking you to sign is legal, if attached to your employment contract. Once you sign the contract, you are bound to it.


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## saji123 (Jul 1, 2014)

Thank you for the reply. 

As i understand correctly, there are 2 types of employment contract.

1) limited contract
2) unlimited contract.

What are the significance of these in the free zone companies (DMCC)? 

As my employment contract shall be an unlimited contract, does that prohibit me from changing the job to another company or is there any minimum time frame for the unlimited contracts (like 5 years etc) after which only i am free to shift?

And also, in a document which i downloaded from net, DMCC Free Zone rules & regulations, 3rd edition, in clause no.13, page No.5, it is mentioned that the Labor Law is applied to all person working under Free zone in addition to the provision of Free zone rules & regulations.

Is the same Labor Law for the Non Free Zone employees or is there a different Labor Law for DMCC or Free Zone companies??

Your valuable inputs on the subject matter is very much appreciated.


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## Chocoholic (Oct 29, 2012)

Under the labour law, unless you have a degree, you cannot change jobs until after 2 years have passed. It's to prevent people from job hopping.


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## QOFE (Apr 28, 2013)

This is not perhaps directed to the OP but to the endless questions about bans, resignation etc.

I have to say that I understand that some of these laws are in place to protect the employers too. It's time-consuming and expensive to hire new employees, train them into the job and integrate. It's not really ideal to employ somebody who will soon after joining starting to look for something else with better title/pay. 
What kind of performance do you get out of somebody who is constantly looking to leave compared to somebody who really wanted the job and is looking for a long and successful career with the same employer?

Some proper due-diligence is needed before even considering applying for a particular job. Do your research about the actual job, the company and do a five year (just an example, not necessary the clichéd five year) plan. It's not fair on the employer and the colleagues and yourself to frequently job hop, not in this region and labour law set-up anyway. 
Temp jobs are great for "trying out" different jobs and employers but it's not really the done thing in this region. I find it a bit hard to comprehend that somebody will take just any job just for the sake of it, move to a foreign country and then try to do job-hop. With the current laws in place it is a very risky strategy and could potentially end up badly.

I wish we had an additional stickie in regards to employment law, bans etc...


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## saji123 (Jul 1, 2014)

Dear Mr. QOFE,

mine was a very simple question. 

1) is the labor law is applicable for the Free Zone Visas or is there a different labor law for free zone visa.

2) difference between a limited contract & unlimited contract for a free zone visa.

As you rightly said no one will shift to a country to do job hopping, that too with his family along with him as shifting from one company to another and to another place itself is a very expensive affair. so that is not the intention. only thing is not to get locked with a company for long as everyone would like to have growth in career. if the existing company is keeping the employee happy, he definitely will not look for job hoping as it is an expensive affair for him also.


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