Can company enforce 1-year ban in UAE if it terminates contract?

The UAE Ministry of Labour has moved a case to its Legal Department to rule on a case which has raised the issue of whether a company that has cancelled the contract by issuing a termination letter can enforce a one-year employment ban on that employee.   A report in local Arabic daily Al Khaleej cited the ministry’s clarification made in a case where a female employee had been issued a one-year ban by her company. The ministry stated that if the employee has violated the contract in any away, then irrespective of resignation or termination, a ban can be enforced. Despite the ministry ruling that in this case the ban was applicable, the details of the case raised many questions that needed clarification. The ministry first clarified that an investigation into the case revealed that the company had issued her a termination letter, which she was using to get the ban lifted. The employee claims that the end of her employment was signed off by the employer after only three months of her working there. The company has claimed that she violated the terms of the contract, which the ministry probe held as true and therefore, a ban in this case is fair. The final ruling, however, is now with the Legal Department of the Ministry of Labour. Emirates 24/7