How employees in UAE can file cases against employers for unfair practices, Up to Dh200,000 fine could be imposed

Employees in general are mostly apprehensive about taking legal action against their employers even in genuine cases of unfair practices. However, UAE law specifies provisions to lodge complaints against employers which may lead to substantial fines.

Common violations of the rights of workers in UAE include but are not limited to; engaging an employee without obtaining a work permit from MoHRE, recruiting an employee and failing to give him work, using work permits fraudulently, closing down an entity and failing to pay employees their dues, failing to pay employees their end of service benefits and recruiting juveniles as prohibited by the provisions of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Employment Relations.

The above-mentioned unfair practices can have outcome of fines for an employer fluctuating from Dh50,000 to Dh200,000 as stated in Article 60 of the UAE Employment Law, which states, “Shall be sentenced to a fine of no less than Dh50,000 and no more than Dh200,000, whoever:

1. Hire an employee without a passport who has not been issued with a permit to work for him.
2. Hired or engaged him as an employee, and turned the individual to joblessness.
3. Utilizes work permits for other functions than those that are allowed by their legal descriptions.
4. Shut down an establishment without observing the processes necessary for computation and payment of all benefits to employees contrary to the provision of this Decree-Law, its Executive Regulations, and Implementing Regulations.
5. Contributes to the employment of a juvenile contrary to the provisions set herein.
6. Consents to the use of a juvenile in contradiction to the provisions of this Decree-law regarding the juvenile’s parent or guardian.

In addition, other unfair practices that may be committed by an employer are also outlined in the Law with regard to financial penalties in Article 58 to Article 63 of the UAE Employment Law.

During the course of scrutiny of an entity in the UAE, a MoHRE inspector may encounter the violations being committed by the said entity and report the same to the MoHRE and/or any other relevant regulatory authority in the UAE. This is in agreement with Article 33(2) of the Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022 on the Implementation of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 Regarding the Regulation of Employment Relations, which states, “Subject to the provisions of Article 57 of the Decree-Law:

Incidents caused in violation of the provisions of the Decree-Law, this Resolution and the Legal Regulations shall be reported under the following procedures:

1. If during an inspection the inspector confirms the presence of a violation of the Decree-Law or of the regulations or the resolutions decreed to enforce the Decree-Law, he shall prepare a report to document the violation and present the report to the relevant authority for the action to be taken against the offender.
2. The employment inspector may from time to time seek the assistance of competent administrative or security organs if required.
3. The violations shall be identified and substantiated by the inspectors with the help of the mechanisms, systems, channels and forms, which shall be determined by the Ministry.
4. Some of the rights given to employment inspectors include; Employers and their representatives are required to avail any facilities and data that the employment inspectors need to fulfill their duty, and must appear before the employment inspector when asked to or send a representative. undefined

Furthermore, in a case where an employee has had his or her employment influenced by unfair practices of the employer, their rights are protected under the Federal Decree Law No. 20 of 2023 amending the Certain Provisions of Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the regulation of employment relationships; they can file an employment complaint.

Moreover, if an employer is involved in unfair employment practices against his employees, then the employees of the particular employer may file a collective employment dispute to the MoHRE in line with Article 56 of the UAE Employment Law alongside the Article 32 of the Cabinet Resolution No 1 of 2022.