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Six-month ban should not apply on all cases

DUBAI — Reacting to the news that after quitting a job, workers will be issued a work permit by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs only after six months instead of being slapped with a six-month ban with a stamp on the passport, most people said that such a move brought them back to square one.

Human rights activists believed that the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs should work towards providing fair and just treatment and maintaining rights and welfare of the worker and the employer.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs should not apply the six-month ban on all cases, but should study cancellation of work permits to ensure the welfare of both the worker and the employer with benefit of doubt in favour of the worker, Dr Mohammed Al Merr, Director of Human Rights Department at Dubai Police, told Khaleej Times commenting on the issue.

Dr Al Merr agreed that restrictions on the issuance of permits to workers whose visas being cancelled are to maintain employers' welfare and accordingly the country's economy but added that the ministry should give the opportunity to the worker — who is not granted sponsorship transfer by the sponsor for one reason or another and whose services were terminated or he was pushed to resign — to work in the country immediately without any restriction.

He proposed the ministry to set up a special committee assigned to study and investigate causes behind work permit cancellations on case by case basis to ensure fair treatment without a bias in favour of the workers.

"If the employer is no more interested in keeping the worker and did not agree to grant the subject worker a sponsorship transfer, the worker should be granted the right to be issued a work permit with another sponsor," he said.

"Besides, if the worker was pushed to resign from the company for work pressure or work frustrations such as when the employer fails to promote a worker after several years of service or payment of the later incentives, the worker in this case is pushed to resign, the ministry should not prevent such a case from the issuance of a work permit immediately after cancellation," he suggested.

The six-month ban on issuance of work permits to those whose visas being cancelled should be implemented in case that the worker left the job looking for a better pay and better benefits thereby affecting his or her sponsor's welfare by causing him financial losses and waste of effort and time, he said, adding, "if the door was left open to workers to jump from an employer to another employers, they will face losses and subsequently the national economy would be affected."

"We do not want to continue giving the opportunity to the employer to hold the worker’s welfare in his hand and subsequently exploit and pressurise the worker in a way or another," he noted hailing the lifting of the six-month ban that used to be placed automatically by the Ministry of Interior.

Moving the ban from the Interior to the Labour Ministry is aimed to create the necessary intervention by an impartial party, the ministry of labour, in the labour relations between the worker and the employer. "Such intervention should help prevent exploitation by some employers of their workers by threatening them with the ban and accordingly cases of visa cancellation should be investigated," he stressed, adding, "the recent decision of the Labour ministry for granting sponsorship transfer without the need of the sponsor's approval is another good step that will help maintain rights of the workers."

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Mohammed Zakaullah, an account executive planning to switch a job said, “What would be the point of removing a ban and then issuing a work permit only after six months? This would result in more people violating the law by working while holding visit visas since they can now enter the country after the cancellations of their residencies. Other complications and exploitations by employers would result, he noted.

Junaid Ali, a marketing manager said, “This would mean that employees would be violating the labour laws and coming into the UAE on a visit visa and working illegally until the ministry processes their work permits.

Subsequently, the rights of the workers are being compromised. Employers would not consider the service period of a worker they offered job while was on visit visa. Again the employee is at the losing end," he said.

Mohammed Faraz Khan, a human resources development manager, believed that the decision will benefit employers again because the worker whose sponsor will not agree on granting him a sponsorship transfer for no specific reason except arm twisting, will find himself incapable to get a job unless six months elapse after cancellation.

Besides, the decision will benefit employers again because it could mean that they would be ready to hire even during the visit visa period so that they would not have to pay for the six months."