Part 2 – You have a job, but found a better one within six months - What happens then?
Under Article 1 of Ministerial Decree No. 766 of 2015, an employee whose employment was terminated because of expiry of his contract, whether limited or non-limited can get a new work permit when he wishes to join new employment.
An employee can also get a new work permit for all limited and unlimited contracts if:
It is determined whether the employer has failed to meet the legal and contractual obligations, including but not limited to failure to pay wages for more than 60 days.
MoHRE confirms that the employer has not provided work due to the firm being inactive for more than two months, and if the worker reports to the ministry during this period.
The final ruling in a labour case (which MoHRE refers to the Labour Court on the basis of a complaint) is in favour of the employee and wherein the case pertains to early termination or outstanding wages, which are less than two months of dues for end of service.
But, again other than just the two types of contracts, you also have the two categories of skilled and unskilled workers – information you need to know:
New permits for unskilled workers
A new permit can be granted when both the worker and the employer mutually consent to terminating the contract during the term provided that the worker has completed at least six months’ employment.
The ministerial decree notes that a new permit can be issued to a worker whose employer terminated him unfairly, without the need to complete six months.
New permits for skilled workers
The requirement of six months’ employment is waived if workers qualify for the skill set series 1, 2 or 3 as classified by the ministerial decree, which denotes holding a university degree, post-secondary diploma or high school diploma respectively. This is applicable if the employee fulfills his contractual commitments.
Once the permit comes through, the process starts for applying for the work visa that will allow you to be a working resident in the UAE:
In general, expatriate employees are issued residency visa for one year or two years based on their labour contract. Also, you have an open and closed contract. In case of an open contract, it gets renewed as many times as the company would like to keep you in their employ. A closed contract has a fixed tenure.
The duration of residence visa depends on the type of sponsor and the person sponsored. It is issued for one, or two or three years. Visa is renewed subject to conditions similar to those of fresh visas.
