No laws related to sporting a beard in UAE

Your employer shall not have much merit if they decide to terminate your employment on the grounds of retaining your beard.

I have been working as a food safety and hygiene officer for an in-flight catering for more than five years in the UAE. I have a beard which is neatly trimmed and I got permission to have it at the time of joining, before signing my contract. This was verbally accepted by the management, but I was required to wear a beard snood.
Now the new management is forcing me to shave off my beard. They say this is the new policy and there are no exceptions. I told the management I signed the contract only after getting verbal approval and that I cover my beard while working. Also, I have been working in the company for five years with my beard.
The management did not accept my request and told me that if I wanted to retain my job I should shave off my beard which I cannot do because of my religious belief. What is the UAE labour rule regarding this? Can my employer terminate me? If they terminate me, can I go legally for compensation?
Pursuant to your query, there are no specific clauses in the laws of the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiritisation in the UAE related to sporting a beard during the course of employment. It is entirely your decision whether to retain or shave your beard as you have grown a beard based on your religious belief. Your employer shall not have much merit if they decide to terminate your employment on the grounds of retaining your beard.
You may contact the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiritisation to seek further advice on this.
Criminal case against bank
A local bank (bank name cannot be disclosed at this time) filed a police case because of a bounced cheque which was not mine. The bank used my passport, visa and Emirates ID which I gave for a credit card application and the bank used these documents against the cheque which was not mine. I told the bank that the cheque is not mine but they did not listen and issued a clearance letter only after I paid for the cheque which was not mine. After complaining to the Central Bank, the said bank rechecked from their side and found that the police case was filed by mistake. But they are not ready to give me any clean chit or apology letter. This irresponsible act of the bank places my 10-year business in danger because as we all know the Dubai Police is linked with EmCredit and every bounced cheque case reflects on EmCredit.
Although the case was cleared and it reflected closed on EmCredit, the case cannot be deleted from the system. Recently, three banks declined my company's loan top up application and local market suppliers are also reluctant to give further credit facility. I assured them that the case was false but I do not have any letter or evidence which can prove that I am innocent. Kindly guide me through how to take appropriate legal action against the bank.
I am at a loss to understand how this bank managed a get a cheque leaf of your account, assuming your name is printed on the cheque leaf and from where your signatures appeared on this cheque especially when you previously never had any dealings with this bank?
Pursuant to your queries you may initiate legal actions against the bank that filed an incorrect dishonour of cheque case against you which has caused you loss of repute and financial loss due to gross negligence of the bank.
You may file a civil case for the damages caused to you based on Malfeasance (Tort) which is mentioned in Part One of Chapter III of Federal Law No. 5 of 1985 of the UAE (the "Civil Transactions Law"). Article 282 of the Civil Transactions Law states: "Every malfeasance done to a third party shall render its tortfeasor liable to damages even though he is incapable of discretion." Further, you may claim damages in accordance with Article 293(1) of the Civil Transactions Law, which reads: "The right to make a claim for damages shall include moral injury which, among other things, includes encroachment upon the freedom, honour, character, reputation, social status, or financial position of a third party." In continuance, you may also simultaneously file a criminal case against the bank in accordance with Article 38 of the Federal Law No.3 of 1987 on Issuance of the Penal Code of UAE which states: "The moral element of a crime consists of the intent or error. The intent arises when the culprit's will moves towards the commission or omission of an act, where such commission or omission is legally defined as a crime, for the purpose of producing a direct effect or any other criminal result which the offender has expected. An error arises if a criminal result occurs by reason of the offender's error whether such an error is negligence, inadvertence, carelessness, recklessness, imprudence or non-compliance with laws, regulations, rules or orders."
Ashish Mehta is the founder and Managing Partner of Ashish Mehta & Associates. He is qualified to practise law in Dubai, the United Kingdom, Singapore and India. Full details of his firm on: www.amalawyers.com. Readers may e-mail their questions to: news@khaleejtimes.com or send them to Legal View, Khaleej Times, PO Box 11243, Dubai