1 week Ago
Question: I work in a mainland company in Dubai and was hired to do a particular job. However, my company asked me to upskill and perform something entirely different. Is this legal? If not, can I file a case against the company? Answer: In the UAE, an employer may not assign a nature of work different from those mentioned in the employment contract to an employee without the employee's written consent.
This is in accordance with Article 12 of Federal Decree Law no 33 of 2021 Regarding the Regulation of Employment Relationships and its amendments, which states: "1. An employee may not be assigned another work which is substantially different from the work agreed upon in the employment contract, unless such an assignment is necessary or aims to avoid an accident or rectify the consequences thereof, provided that the assignment is temporary as specified by the Executive Regulations of this Decree-Law. 2.
An employer may, in cases other than those stated in paragraph (1) above, entrust the employee with work that is not agreed upon in the employment contract, with the employee's written consent. Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.
3. Where the employee is required to perform a work not agreed upon in the employment contract or to change his residence, all resulting costs, including the relocation and accommodation costs, shall be borne by the employer." The provision above of law is also read with Article 13 of the Cabinet Resolution No.
1 of 2022 on the Implementation of Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 Regarding the Regulation of Employment Relations, which states, 1. Subject to the provisions of Article 12 of the Decree Law, the employee may be assigned to alternative work that is fundamentally different from the contractually agreed work as an exception that is considered necessary to prevent an accident or to repair damage caused by the employee.
The maximum limit for assigning the employee to such work shall be (90) ninety days per year. 2. In application of clause (1) of this Article, "fundamental difference" shall mean the work to which the employee is assigned is completely different from the nature of his profession or his academic qualification.
" It may be an employer's obligation to invest in developing the existing skills of its employees by providing them with relevant training and conducting programmes and tools that are helpful (if any) in upgrading their existing skills. This is in accordance with the Article 13(5) of the Employment Law, which states, "Investing in the development of the skills of employees working for its service and providing the minimum amount of training, qualification and empowerment tools and programmes as per the provisions of this Decree-Law and it's Implementing Regulation;".
