Foreign workers in United Arab Emirates (UAE) including overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will benefit from the new sponsorship rule that makes it easy for them to transfer to another employer and obtain a new work permit after their job contract expires. The former policy still requires the workers to issue consent from former employer and endure a six-month ban period before they can transfer to a new employer.

The new policy was announced by the UAE Minister of Labor, Saqr Gobash and this development is part of the efforts of the UAE government to scrap the much criticized sponsorship system.

Based on the new rule, a migrant worker in UAE can immediately obtain a new work permit once his or her job contract expires and transfer to a new employer. The six-month employment ban and former employer’s consent are no longer necessary. The new policy though is only applicable if the foreign workers has been employed with the former employer for at least two years and have ended work contract cordially.

The new policy would no longer require OFWs and other foreign workers to leave UAE for six months upon completion of their work contract as they are not allowed to seek for a job within that period.

The migrant workers are also given the option to transfer to a new job if his or her current employer does not abide by what is stated in the employment contact or if the worker has no accountability for the untimely termination of the contract.

The new resolution also cites three instances where the worker can get a new work permit even if they have not worked for at least two years with the employer:

• When joining his new job, the worker should be classified in the first, second or third professional class and that his new salary should not be less than Dh 12,000, Dh 7,000 and Dh 5,000, respectively;
• The employer has been found to be not complying with his legal and labor obligations towards the worker, or the worker has no role in terminating the work relationship; and
• The worker is transferring to another firm that the original employer owns or partly owns.

The UAE Minister of Labor said that the objective of the new rules is to “infuse broader flexibility in the labour market and strike a balance in the contractual relationship between the employer and worker."

Gobash explained that his ministry is committed to ensure that the legal rights of both parties are guaranteed. He said, “The Ministry will only interfere in the employer-worker contractual relationship if it detects infringement in obligations stated in the labour contract."