Forgery, impersonation can lead to work ban

Abu Dhabi - An employee who forged his salary certificate and has been handed a one-year work ban by the Labour Court will not be allowed to work for another company during the said period.

This was stated on Monday, during the weekly open day held on the premises of the Ministry of Labour in Abu Dhabi. The open day was attended by a committee comprising Qasim Mohamad Jamil, director of the Guidance Department who is also acting director of the Labour Relations, and Saleh Al Jabri, director of the Establishments Unit in Abu Dhabi. A worker had submitted an application to the committee requesting to be exempted from a one year work ban levied upon him, as per a final court verdict, for forging a salary certificate.

Qasim Jamil said the ban was imposed upon request by the employer after the worker was convicted of faking an official document (a salary certificate). Jamil added that the MoL could not lift a ban as it was an irrevocable court judgment.

The employee had infringed terms of the employment contract with his current company as per the labour law. Article No 120 of the labour law permits an employer to dismiss a worker without notice in certain cases. It says, ''an employer is entitled to fire a worker without notice if he impersonates or produces forged documents or certificates."

The article also stipulates that the employer can dismiss a worker during/at the end of the probation period, and if he makes a mistake which results in gross financial damage to the employer. In such cases, the employer must report the incident to the Labour Department within 48 hours.

A worker can also be dismissed if he is handed a final court ruling when convicted of offending honesty, integrity or public decency; if a worker divulges classified information of the firm he is working for; if found drunk during work hours; if he assaults the employer, his superiors or a workmate during the work hours; does not report for duty without legal reason for more than 20 interval days over a year or more than seven consecutive days.

Jamil said Article No 120 stipulates that the employee may also be terminated if he breaks the safety instructions applicable to workers or the workplace, provided such instructions are written and placed noticeably. If the worker is illiterate, the instructions have to be conveyed verbally.

Coutesy : Khaleejtimes.com, Adel Arafa -18 October 2010