# Probation resignation working hours



## oneshandyandy (Jan 7, 2016)

I have just resigned from my position with a company in Dubai during my probation period. I set out a pretty solid timeframe in my resignation letter, but have since discovered that it doesn't work like this over here. The labour law apparently (please confirm!) says 30 days notice unless specified otherwise in the contract. In mine it doesn't specify otherwise so it looks like I'm stuck here for up to 30 days.

Basically, I would like to leave this company as soon as possible and work as little as possible during this period, and am trying to find ways of doing that. When I say as little as possible I mean something resembling a normal working week for most people, it's not me being lazy but I've got stuff to do.

If I really want to leave, can I pay them to leave early? Is there something about that in the labour law?

How much can my employer work me during this period? If they want, could they force me to work 7 days a week for the whole 30 days? (it's entirely possible that they would) Are there any long-term penalties for refusing to show up for work, especially on a weekend day?

The way that overtime works with this company completely ignores hours worked (you could work 24 and have not a minute of overtime), but does take into account separate days worked. They don't pay for these, but give them back as days in lieu. If, at the end of this 30 day period, I still have any left, am I correct to presume that they must pay me for these?

Any comments would be very much appreciated, and some references would be a bonus.


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Hi,
UAE Labour law is your friend.
http://www.mol.gov.ae/newcontrolpanel2010/attachments/21062012/labour law no.8 year 1980.pdf
Articles 65 to 73 deal with working hours.
If your company does not respect the Labour law - then simply open a case (or let them know you will) with the MOL.
Cheers
Steve


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## oneshandyandy (Jan 7, 2016)

Stevesolar said:


> Hi,
> UAE Labour law is your friend.
> http://www.mol.gov.ae/newcontrolpanel2010/attachments/21062012/labour law no.8 year 1980.pdf
> Articles 65 to 73 deal with working hours.
> ...


Thanks for that.

Somewhere in my contract (unfortunately I can't find it right now, but I remember reading it - will look at the hard copy when I get home tonight), it says something along the lines of "the salary includes any overtime payments". And elsewhere "you will be required to work reasonable additional hours to achieve the efficient and effective performance of your duties, without additional payment".

Do those clauses bypass the labour law?

What might 'reasonable additional hours' mean, for a contracted minimum of 40? For example, I've been working 80+ hours some weeks.

I appreciate that I may need to see a lawyer for this, but any general advice is always helpful initially. I appreciate it.


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

oneshandyandy said:


> Thanks for that.
> 
> Somewhere in my contract (unfortunately I can't find it right now, but I remember reading it - will look at the hard copy when I get home tonight), it says something along the lines of "the salary includes any overtime payments". And elsewhere "you will be required to work reasonable additional hours to achieve the efficient and effective performance of your duties, without additional payment".
> 
> ...


Hi,
Labour law prevails over (especially unreasonable) contract clauses.
Simply register a case with the MOL - they will put your company straight, if they have been breaking the rules.
Cheers
Steve


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## oneshandyandy (Jan 7, 2016)

Stevesolar said:


> Hi,
> Labour law prevails over (especially unreasonable) contract clauses.
> Simply register a case with the MOL - they will put your company straight, if they have been breaking the rules.
> Cheers
> Steve


Many thanks for that! Will phone up MOL again later. I think there are some widespread problems with this company that should be addressed. Most ground staff work well in excess of the hours set out in UAE labour law.

Once I worked 18 hours overnight and crashed my car twice the following day, another employee also crashed his from tiredness after the same shift. If you make a complaint the management don't deal with it appropriately, they just tell you to stop being a wimp.


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## Fat Bhoy Tim (Feb 28, 2013)

During probation, you or your employer can sack the other off on the spot. You're paid for whatever time you work.


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## oneshandyandy (Jan 7, 2016)

Fat Bhoy Tim said:


> During probation, you or your employer can sack the other off on the spot. You're paid for whatever time you work.


That's what I thought. However, MOL say different! The employee has to give notice, but the employer does not.


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## Racing_Goats (Sep 5, 2015)

Doesn't sound like a good situation and hopefully it'll get sorted with MoL help if need be - take a taxi next time you're that tired, its not your employer's fault if you crash into folks while too tired to drive safely..


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## oneshandyandy (Jan 7, 2016)

Racing_Goats said:


> Doesn't sound like a good situation and hopefully it'll get sorted with MoL help if need be - take a taxi next time you're that tired, its not your employer's fault if you crash into folks while too tired to drive safely..


Yeah I agree, it's not their responsibility really. But on the day I had to move out of the company provided accommodation and into my own apartment I didn't have any option other than to drive. Still, shouldn't have driven, of course I can't blame it on them, but it's an example of how they seem to have quite a lack of regard for their employees.

Will give MOL another ring later and find out about the working hours and what I can do about them. I'm sure the company has a way around it cause they've been operating like this for years, guess I'll have to stick with it until the end of the notice period.


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## jrob2004 (Mar 2, 2016)

*Clarity Labor Law and Common Practice*



oneshandyandy said:


> That's what I thought. However, MOL say different! The employee has to give notice, but the employer does not.



The Employment Law is clear on this and the Labor Office is clear on this yet the application of this varies from sector to sector and against the terms of the contract that you may have signed. It is in part designed to stop people who have been brought over at the companies expense, taking training then jumping from job to job once you are in Dubai and should also protect the individual if they are not aware of the working conditions up front. 

As for the working hours, the length of a day is identified in the Labor Law but this does vary from industry to industry, for example Catering, Shipping and Hotel's have exemptions and in all cases such working conditions are normally identified in the contract up front and identifiable or common practice to the industry or sector you work in. You can waste a lot of time going around in circles at the MoL but it may be worth it. My advice is don't think about phoning them, you must go and see them and take anything that you have in writing to them. Hearsay will not count for much as there are many disgruntled people who build a picture that isn't quite the real one just to jump ship.


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## oneshandyandy (Jan 7, 2016)

jrob2004 said:


> The Employment Law is clear on this and the Labor Office is clear on this yet the application of this varies from sector to sector and against the terms of the contract that you may have signed. It is in part designed to stop people who have been brought over at the companies expense, taking training then jumping from job to job once you are in Dubai and should also protect the individual if they are not aware of the working conditions up front.
> 
> As for the working hours, the length of a day is identified in the Labor Law but this does vary from industry to industry, for example Catering, Shipping and Hotel's have exemptions and in all cases such working conditions are normally identified in the contract up front and identifiable or common practice to the industry or sector you work in. You can waste a lot of time going around in circles at the MoL but it may be worth it. My advice is don't think about phoning them, you must go and see them and take anything that you have in writing to them. Hearsay will not count for much as there are many disgruntled people who build a picture that isn't quite the real one just to jump ship.


Makes sense! Bit of a bummer if you just want to leave but it is a fairly good reason.

I'm sure that the length of a day doesn't average out at 12 hours across the week for any industry! Unfortunately my company doesn't even attempt to track the hours worked by staff on the ground, because of the following clause:
"The fixed renumeration you receive each month compensates you for any legal entitlement arising under an award, workplace agreement or any other law relating to wages, a periodic rate of pay, overtime, weekend and holiday penalties, shift allowance, vehicle allowance, travelling expense, penalty payments and annual leave loading"

If this were legal they could literally make me work 168 hours a week if they wanted to, and all for no extra payment. Somehow I don't think that it is legal. But I'm sure that the company's lawyers know what they're doing.

Actually visiting the MOL won't be possible anytime soon sadly. I could skip work one morning to go there instead, I'm not sure what penalties, if any, can be given for skipping work if I'm quitting anyway? I have called, and they have confirmed that the hours should be illegal, but when I mentioned the clause said that I should call to speak to the legal team during daytime tomorrow.


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## jrob2004 (Mar 2, 2016)

Have you put your complaint in writing to the company as the MoL will have expected you to do so in order to allow the company to review your complaint. Simply jumping to the Labor Office as the first move does sound like you've not got your thinking straight, rather looks you're looking for a quick way out to something else.


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## oneshandyandy (Jan 7, 2016)

jrob2004 said:


> Have you put your complaint in writing to the company as the MoL will have expected you to do so in order to allow the company to review your complaint. Simply jumping to the Labor Office as the first move does sound like you've not got your thinking straight, rather looks you're looking for a quick way out to something else.


It's a complaint I informally made at my resignation. I'd like to find out the legality of it before writing to them from my high horse and finding out that I'm very wrong! I'll speak with MoL, and then discuss it with the company again before lodging a formal complaint with MoL if it becomes necessary.


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

oneshandyandy said:


> It's a complaint I informally made at my resignation. I'd like to find out the legality of it before writing to them from my high horse and finding out that I'm very wrong! I'll speak with MoL, and then discuss it with the company again before lodging a formal complaint with MoL if it becomes necessary.


Hi,
Good article here:-

Ministry resolves pay row of British physio ‘forced to resign from job’ | The National
Cheers
Steve


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

jrob2004 said:


> Have you put your complaint in writing to the company as the MoL will have expected you to do so in order to allow the company to review your complaint. Simply jumping to the Labor Office as the first move does sound like you've not got your thinking straight, rather looks you're looking for a quick way out to something else.


Hi,
As a new member to this forum - you might like to introduce yourself and your experiences of UAE Labour law, before giving such important advice to another member - who is facing employment issues.
Cheers
Steve


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## oneshandyandy (Jan 7, 2016)

Stevesolar said:


> Hi,
> Good article here:-
> 
> Ministry resolves pay row of British physio ‘forced to resign from job’ | The National
> ...


Very useful, thanks. Especially this bit:
"UAE labour law stipulates that an employee can leave their job without providing any notice if a contractual right has not been fulfilled by the employer or if they’ve been the victim of assault."​
Just gotta establish whether it is an illegal clause or not. Waiting on a call back from the MoL legal team but I'll send an email too. If I can find time will head into MoL in person with my contracts. It's a little ironic that the thing preventing me from doing this is the exact reason I want to go there!

Thanks for your help


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## LewsTT (Dec 7, 2015)

Stevesolar said:


> Hi,
> UAE Labour law is your friend.
> http://www.mol.gov.ae/newcontrolpanel2010/attachments/21062012/labour law no.8 year 1980.pdf
> Articles 65 to 73 deal with working hours.
> ...


Does this include the amendments that have apparently been made after the new year?


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## jrob2004 (Mar 2, 2016)

Stevesolar said:


> Hi,
> As a new member to this forum - you might like to introduce yourself and your experiences of UAE Labour law, before giving such important advice to another member - who is facing employment issues.
> Cheers
> Steve


Steve, I work in HR here and have done for 12 years and was looking for posts across the HR spectrum, and this was interesting as the person is making a decision within their 'probation' period.
You will note that I posed a question and shared knowledge rather than giving any advice as there are not enough facts available for true analysis. 
With experience in this field I felt I could share knowledge and that this may bring benefit to the dialogue. People do change their minds once they join an organisation then find the need to justify this in other ways, often blaming others or being negative to the company. If this leads to legal advice and lengthy dialogue with MoL to get nowhere it's often just better to review the terms of the contract, formally discuss challenges with the employer, and, if not resolved ,either go to the MoL or see out the notice period signed up to and move on. Going straight to the MoL is often indicative of an employee looking for a way out of the notice period rather than resolving a problem that is real or not. Experience is a useful insight into such matters.
John


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

jrob2004 said:


> Steve, I work in HR here and have done for 12 years and was looking for posts across the HR spectrum, and this was interesting as the person is making a decision within their 'probation' period.
> You will note that I posed a question and shared knowledge rather than giving any advice as there are not enough facts available for true analysis.
> With experience in this field I felt I could share knowledge and that this may bring benefit to the dialogue. People do change their minds once they join an organisation then find the need to justify this in other ways, often blaming others or being negative to the company. If this leads to legal advice and lengthy dialogue with MoL to get nowhere it's often just better to review the terms of the contract, formally discuss challenges with the employer, and, if not resolved ,either go to the MoL or see out the notice period signed up to and move on. Going straight to the MoL is often indicative of an employee looking for a way out of the notice period rather than resolving a problem that is real or not. Experience is a useful insight into such matters.
> John


Hi John
Welcome to the forum.
Thanks for explaining your wealth of experience in HR - I am sure other members will welcome your input on this and other threads.
I have worked in the GCC region for 32 years and have become a bit of a cynic!
So many companies really push the boundaries of what they can get away with and often have scant regard of relevant Labour laws and employee terms and conditions.
Cheers
Steve


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## jrob2004 (Mar 2, 2016)

Stevesolar said:


> Hi John
> Welcome to the forum.
> Thanks for explaining your wealth of experience in HR - I am sure other members will welcome your input on this and other threads.
> I have worked in the GCC region for 32 years and have become a bit of a cynic!
> ...


Steve
Just getting used to working this as my post earlier failed miserably. I understand where you're coming from and this forum is a real benefit to people coming into the UAE and to other expatriate locations. From an HR perspective its been interesting to go through a number of the threads, and I can see it would be easy to join in on the oneway traffic, and form a slanted view on how companies and the law operates here. I think the reality is that the regulation has strengthened massively over the time I've been here and many corporations and long standing companies have embraced this with open arms. Controls like WPS are weeding out the weaker companies and the Labor Office is a now great asset. 

I moderate on behalf of our organisation across cases such as Andy's and 95% of the time it's simply down to 'cold feet' of behalf of the individual or a better offer being made once they've settled in Dubai. I'm not saying that's the case here, just giving some analysis. Best for all is there's clear dialogue, resolution sought, documented exchange of emails or letters and then, when nothing is resolved, MoL. Or, if it simply doesn't work out, resign, follow the terms of the contract as signed and shake hands on the last day. Maybe the cynic in me tells me that's not how it's always going to work. lol


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## oneshandyandy (Jan 7, 2016)

jrob2004 said:


> Steve
> Just getting used to working this as my post earlier failed miserably. I understand where you're coming from and this forum is a real benefit to people coming into the UAE and to other expatriate locations. From an HR perspective its been interesting to go through a number of the threads, and I can see it would be easy to join in on the oneway traffic, and form a slanted view on how companies and the law operates here. I think the reality is that the regulation has strengthened massively over the time I've been here and many corporations and long standing companies have embraced this with open arms. Controls like WPS are weeding out the weaker companies and the Labor Office is a now great asset.
> 
> I moderate on behalf of our organisation across cases such as Andy's and 95% of the time it's simply down to 'cold feet' of behalf of the individual or a better offer being made once they've settled in Dubai. I'm not saying that's the case here, just giving some analysis. Best for all is there's clear dialogue, resolution sought, documented exchange of emails or letters and then, when nothing is resolved, MoL. Or, if it simply doesn't work out, resign, follow the terms of the contract as signed and shake hands on the last day. Maybe the cynic in me tells me that's not how it's always going to work. lol


Thanks for your insight. You are correct in saying that I have got cold feet from this contract. This is for a number of valid reasons, I explained the main ones. I would like to get out of this contract as soon as possible for those reasons.

Rather than opening a case against the company, I would like to realise the legality of the situation, then make contact with my company and work fairly for the rest of my notice period. If it turns out there is no case, I'll have to stick with it until the notice period is up.

The last individual who left the company during his probation received no pay for his final month of work. I would like a way to leave the company without any kind of penalty, and not to have to try to claim back the money owed to me at the end. It would be understandable if it were in the contract that any costs relating to my relocation should be charged to me if I was to leave within a certain timeframe, but this is not the case.


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## jrob2004 (Mar 2, 2016)

oneshandyandy said:


> Thanks for your insight. You are correct in saying that I have got cold feet from this contract. This is for a number of valid reasons, I explained the main ones. I would like to get out of this contract as soon as possible for those reasons.
> 
> Rather than opening a case against the company, I would like to realise the legality of the situation, then make contact with my company and work fairly for the rest of my notice period. If it turns out there is no case, I'll have to stick with it until the notice period is up.
> 
> The last individual who left the company during his probation received no pay for his final month of work. I would like a way to leave the company without any kind of penalty, and not to have to try to claim back the money owed to me at the end. It would be understandable if it were in the contract that any costs relating to my relocation should be charged to me if I was to leave within a certain timeframe, but this is not the case.


As I previously said, I can't give advice on this but can share experience. When an employee realizes that they are in the wrong job they often have to justify this to themselves and to others through declaring many reasons, true or not so, and will bring the MoI into the mix, much to the departments frustration as they are not there to work out exit strategies for people. Things should be kept simple, plain speaking, no stories of 'I heard that somebody was treated badly' or 'another company does it better', it is often a healthier outcome if people just stick to their signed contract terms and perform the duties they have agreed to do then move on. Scheming, plotting and over thinking isn't healthy. The days will go by and an individual can demonstrate their maturity by simply doing what they were contracted to do. In your case, is sounds like the lack of a claim on relocation expenses is to your benefit so be happy with that, my own organisation insists on that given that if the employee does not remain in post beyond three months, and that can be expensive for the individual and I feel it's a fair approach as both parties should do their homework on what they are getting into.


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