# Moving Jobs During Probation



## bt06155 (Feb 17, 2015)

I am a teacher of maths working at a private school in Al Ain. It is a private school and I have been working there since January. I am originally from the UK and have a British Passport.

My query is that I have currently resigned from my position at the school today. I have accepted a job in Abu Dhabi at a different school for many reasons that are not relevant to the topic right now.

I have produced my resignation in writing and I need a letter of acceptance of my resignation in order to go and start working for my new school. However my current school are insisting that I have to pay recruitment fees as a penalty. They are stating that I have to pay back; my flight costs (to bring me from the UK to here), my visa costs (I have my residency visa) and additional costs they incurred from the agency that I signed up with to get in contact with the school (which could be around 15000 AED).

In my initial offer contract that I signed electronically while I was in the UK states ?

?The Second Party (me) has the right to resign during the probation period provided that the resignation is submitted in writing and is unconditional. The service of the Second Party shall be terminated upon acceptance of the resignation by the First Party (Emirates National School), whereupon the Second Party is obliged to pay back all fees spent on him/her since his/her recruitment excluding his/her salary as indicated in Article X from this contract?

Now I have done my research, I believe it is illegal according to ?Ministerial order 52 of 1989, Article 6, of the Labour Law, makes it quite clear that anyone seeking a job cannot be charged a fee nor can an employer ask an employee to cover this expense, even if they do leave before the contract ends.

Now the issue is, because it is in my private contract with the school, am I legally bound to pay the above costs mentioned? Is this contract 'above' the UAE Labour Law contract, does it have different rules?

They are refusing to give me my acceptance of resignation letter because of this, but I need legal advice of what to do, should they persist in demanding reimbursement for these fees. They are asking for a total of around 20k AED. I can't start my new job and my current school are making it extremely difficult for me.

I also wanted to ask, the HR of my current school also mentioned, an ADEC ban which has been introduced this year, which states that if a teacher leaves a job from one school, he has a 6 month ban before he can start working in another school. But surely because I am leaving in my probation period, this will not apply to me?

Do you think there would be any VISA issues now as well? 

I assumed that because I was in my probation period I as an employee could resign whenever I wanted and they could do sack me in the same way. 

I need some advice as the worst possible scenario is that I lose two jobs, as it is my dream to work in the UAE! Has anyone in particular gone through the same trauma as me, how did you deal with it?


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

While you are correct in the reading of the UAE Labour law, I am not sure that the answer is clear cut (like everything else here).
I would suggest that you get in touch with the Ministry of Labour over the phone AND in person to get reliable answers to your questions.
Ministry of Labour

All the best.


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## itsmejake (Mar 8, 2015)

bt06155 said:


> I am a teacher of maths working at a private school in Al Ain. It is a private school and I have been working there since January. I am originally from the UK and have a British Passport.
> 
> My query is that I have currently resigned from my position at the school today. I have accepted a job in Abu Dhabi at a different school for many reasons that are not relevant to the topic right now.
> 
> ...



Did you manage to get it sorted?


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