Background

Following the three ministerial decrees of January 2016, all employees across the UAE will be presented with a standard Job Offer that contains clear and binding terms of employment, prior to the worker’s entry in the UAE, or prior to the change of status in case the worker is already in the country. If an employee is coming from abroad, the contract must be signed before he arrives to the UAE. Subsequently both the employer and the employee will need to sign the employment contract which cannot be significantly different from the job offer. The Employment Contract needs to be registered with the Ministry and any change or addendum to the terms of the employment need to be approved of by the Ministry.

What you need to know about the new standardized Offer Letter The Contract contains 12 clauses regarding the obligations and rights of both employer and employee. Like the old employment contracts, the new Contract contains basic information regarding the employer and employee. The information include the names and addresses of both the employer and the employee, the nationality of the employee, the employee’s profession, job title and basic remuneration allowances, the date the employment begins and the duration of probation (cannot be longer than 6 months), if any.

One clause explains that both party can end the employment relationship if they choose to, subject to certain legal consequences. However, given the new decrees, the legal consequences generally mean giving a proper notice (as agreed, between 1 to 3 months) of intentions to terminate the employment, honoring the employment obligations and indemnifying the other party as agreed.

Another clause states that the employee is entitled to a weekly rest period (either 1 or two days) and obliges the employer to determine such period prior to commencement of employment.

Three clauses (clauses 7, 8 and 9) stipulate that both parties acknowledge they have reviewed the clauses thoroughly and understand the terms of the employment along with attached Annexes that explains in more details the applicable laws and regulations of employment in the UAE. Furthermore these clauses specify that all the terms of the offer should be binding on both parties.

Additional terms of employment can be added in the last clause of the contract. However, these additional conditions must be in compliance with the labor laws and can be binding subject to the approval of the Ministry of Labour.