Up to Dh10m in fines for violating employee’s rights

Violations range from not applying for work permit to not paying dues

The new UAE Labour Law — Federal DecreeLaw No. 33 of 2021 Regulating Labour Relations — came into effect from February 2. A subsection titled ‘Penalties’ deals with the fines and likely jail terms that can result from violating the provisions of the law.

The subsection, which covers Articles 58 to 64 of the new law, deals with a range of violations that may be committed by an employer. For example, the fine for providing false information or documents to try to bring a foreigner to the UAE for employment can lead to a fine of up to Dh100,000. However, if an employer is found employing a worker without the necessary work permit, the fine can go up to Dh200,000 as per Article 60 of the new law. The same penalty would also apply for the following offences:

■ Recruiting or employing a worker, and leaving him or her without work.

■ Using work permits for purposes other than those for which they are issued.

■ Closing down an establishment, or ceasing work activity, without taking the procedures for settlement of workers’ entitlements.

Stricter penalties

Articles 61, 62, 63 and 64 highlight more severe penalties for certain violations, with Article 61 stating that anyone abusing or misusing or otherwise permitting a third party to abuse or misuse the online credentials allocated to them to log in to the Ministry’s systems — which results in disruption of labour relations or procedures — can be fined up to Dh1 million, along with a jail term of not less than a year.

Fines can go up to a maximum of Dh10 million, as per Article 62 of the law, which looks at how fines may be multiplied depending on the number of workers whose rights have been

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