Employment Rights for Expats | ExpatWoman.com
 

Employment Rights for Expats

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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 29 April 2012 - 13:08

Hi,
I've gotten a new job with an American company and am wondering about my rights as an expat employee. I was wondering where I could read in-depth about what I am entitled to in terms of wage, time off, benefits, etc. As of right now, I feel I am underpaid, undervalued and overworked, and as a Westerner working for an American company, I am disappointed. I was wondering if there was a company/person that specialized in labour rights that I could talk to?

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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 14 May 2012 - 18:12
Hi Miss Fancy, MOL is a good place to look for information Al Tammimi Lawyers are very good, also try SHRM's UAE websites they have some information to help you too. If you message me directly with your queries I will do my level bet to help you or direct you to someone else who can. You must look at your contract to check if it is limited or unlimited as Article 113 -119 of the labour may be applicable to your contract in the case of resignation or termination. Under part IV of the labour law you will find reference to hours of work and depending on your position you may need to see which of the stipulations apply to you. Article 65 states normal hours of adult workers shall be 8 a day or 48 per week but these can be increased to 9 hours a day if your company is a commercial establishment- as mentioned already its best to give some specific info to understand what applies to you. There are 9 days of paid leave for public holidays under article 74 (however Governments can and do often change this rule) and under article 75 -30 days per annum where your period of service is more than a year. After completion of a years service you will be entitled to severance pay. Be careful of limited or unlimited contracts because the employer can impose a 6 month ban preventing you from working in another company in uae unless you are working in a free zone and other factors are to be considered but that will take too long in this forum. I will say this as others have too, that it takes time to adjust to the way of living and working here in UAE and once you learn to go with the flow with many very basic work place ethics which we take for granted in our home country, you can see there is crazy local logic to it. Wish you all the very best.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 13 May 2012 - 10:31
To Miss Fancy: It all sounds very familiar to me. You probably do a lot of online Ethics Training and who knows what else however, in practise it's different story. I don't think that MOL will help you as this is very difficult to prove. Underpaid, overworked or doing job of 2-3 people is something that is common, unfortunately. How about talking to your company HR in US? Of course, when you went for an interview your job spec.was 'slightly'different perhpas with occasional help for other departments or some overtime.... Try and talk to your manager or as mentioned above ....your HR. Of course, if you are still under 3 months probation, you can leave......but first, find another job. I wish you best of luck:)
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 11 May 2012 - 21:43
Hi, I've gotten a new job with an American company and am wondering about my rights as an expat employee. I was wondering where I could read in-depth about what I am entitled to in terms of wage, time off, benefits, etc. As of right now, I feel I am underpaid, undervalued and overworked, and as a Westerner working for an American company, I am disappointed. I was wondering if there was a company/person that specialized in labour rights that I could talk to? fact of life here, but the only place is the MoL.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 06 May 2012 - 01:19
Try the UAE Labour Laws, this can be downloaded from the Ministry of Labour website. Sorry you are unhappy with your employer, but this is sometimes the case for lots of expats. Can you be more specific about your job problems?