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A reader from Dubai asks: I have worked for a company in Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) for more than four years. I reached a good position in the company from the bottom level because of my hard work, but the company was paying me much less when compared with others in the same position as mine. I proposed that the company increased my salary and other allowances but the company rejected my proposal. I started to look for a new job in the same field as I urgently needed to sort out my financial problems (I have loans and credit cards to pay off). I got an opportunity from a company (a direct competitor located inside Jafza), which is doing the same kind of business and is ready to pay me almost what I had expected. So I tendered my resignation saying that I was resigning due to personal financial problems and that I was going to their competitor. After two days of handing in my resignation the company called a meeting with me and accepted my resignation, I was not given any written confirmation and threatened with the conditions as mentioned below.
I should hand over all the things which the company has given me, and leave the office within five minutes. I will be banned for two years, which would stop me joining the direct competitor. I should stay in the company accommodation for 30 days from the date of my resignation.
They will start to process my visa cancellation after this period. And they will regularly check the company accommodation to check I am there, if they do not find me in the accommodation a case will be filled against me to the police and Jafza.
At this stage can I join the direct competitor? Can I be banned as they threatened me? Is it possible for me to transfer to the direct competitor without getting a no-objection certificate (NOC) from my existing employer and without exiting the UAE? And tell me about the labour rules and regulations of Jafza under these circumstances.
In fact, the questioner has not revealed whether his labour contract with the company is for a limited or unlimited period. If his contract is for a limited period then he cannot terminate it before its expiry otherwise he will be subject to a labour ban as well as having to compensate the employer for breaching the terms of his contract. However, if his contract is for an unlimited period then the questioner can serve a prior notice of resignation to the employer of one month or as stated in the labour contract. In addition, if his labour contract includes a condition of non-competition then the questioner will be, as per the labour contract, subject to a certain penalty or fine. In this course the questioner should always comply with the provisions of the employment contract.
As for the questioner's enquiry about the company's threats to file a case before the police if they do not find him in the accommodation, I would say that the company has no right or concern to limit the questioner's freedom in this way. However, possibly what the company meant was a threat to not reveal any of its secrets or confidential information to the new company, and in this case, if the company has got proof of this it can file a breach of trust case against the employee for revealing its secrets. Anyway, I advise the questioner to refer his case to the free zone authority, and if the questioner is not satisfied with the solution offered by it then he can seek to process the case to be referred by the competent court.
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