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Employer must bear recruitment expenses in UAE

The employer shall sponsor and be responsible for the recruited employee.

Q-Me and my wife are Dubai residents. Both of us have got visas to migrate to a different country. My wife, who works at a school, resigned on February 28 and is currently serving her one-month notice. However, her employer has informed her that she'd need to pay Dh2,700 as charges for the labour (employment) card. If she doesn't pay the amount, the school has said that they will deduct it from her gratuity. Is this legal?
Answer:
In the UAE, the cost of recruitment of an employee should to be borne by the employer and the employment card charges are part of the recruitment expenses.  This is in accordance with Article 6(a) of the Ministerial Order No. 52 of 1989 pertaining to rules and procedures to be adopted at the labour permit sections with respect to the recruitment of non-national labour for employment in the UAE, which states: "An undertaking from the employer to the effect that he shall sponsor and be responsible for the recruited employee, the bearing of his recruitment expenses and his employment in accordance with the employment contract in a way not prejudicing the provision of the Federal Law No. 8 of 1980 referred to herein."
In view of the aforesaid, your wife may inform her employer that he/she must bear the cost of the employment card. In the event the employer does not agree with your wife's request and deducts the said employment card charges from her gratuity payments, she may approach the Ministry of Human Resources & Emiratisation and file a complaint against her employer.
Know the law
The employer shall sponsor and be responsible for the recruited employee, the bearing of his recruitment expenses and his employment in accordance with the employment contract
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, P.O. Box 11243, Dubai