According to a legal associate, there are seven instances whereby an employer can withhold or deduct the wage of a worker
Expatriates account for around 90 per cent of the UAE’s workforce, working across all the public and private sectors. Under certain circumstances, an employer can withhold or deduct the employee’s salary.
According to Navandeep Matta, senior legal associate at Nasser Yousuf Al Khamis Advocates and Legal Consultants, there are seven instances under Article 25 (1 & 2) whereby an employer can withhold or deduct the wage of a worker.
They are as follows:
Moreover, Matta said if there are many reasons for deduction or withholding from the wage, in all cases the percentage of deduction and/or withholding may not exceed 50 per cent of the wage.
“Therefore, in view of the above-mentioned laws and regulations, the employer cannot either directly or indirectly deduct travel allowance from his worker and adjust the same from his cash allowance. It is advised to the workers to clarify the annual return ticket before signing the employment contract,” said Matta.
However, it is not permissible to deduct an amount greater than that, except with the approval of the competent court, he added.
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Waheed Abbas is Assistant Editor, covering real estate, aviation and other business stories that directly affect the lives of UAE consumers. He frequently reports human interest stories, too.