I have been working for a limited liability company on a three-year contract. My contract expired on December 13, 2011. My total salary was Dh2,600. My basic salary was Dh1,230 and there was a performance allowance of Dh300; the rest was for my travel and housing allowance or overtime. On average, I received a Dh500 commission on sales each month. I have worked on all public holidays for the past three years with no extra pay. Under the UAE Labour Law, what end-of-service gratuity payment would I receive? My visa expired on February 7 and I have already told my company not to renew my contract. VSR, Dubai
The end-of-service gratuity is based on basic salary and not allowances. But because a commission has been a regular feature of your salary and is paid monthly, then this must be taken into consideration. This means that the figure on which the gratuity calculation is based on is your basic salary of Dh1,230 plus a commission of Dh500, so a total of Dh1,730 a month, or equivalent to Dh20,760 a year. If an employee has worked for the full three years, then they are entitled to 21 days of pay for each year of service. However, they should be aware that days of absence without pay are not included in the calculation. The figures are calculated pro-rata for partial years. It should also be noted that if someone works on a public holiday, then they are entitled to time off in lieu, or should be paid at a rate of 150 per cent of the standard daily pay.
I was asked in November if I could work for someone for a few weeks because he needed my expertise. After two weeks or so, he offered me a full-time job, which I accepted. At that point, we discussed such things as salary and housing and he took my passport, saying that he would proceed with my employment visa. Things went well up to Christmas, but then my employer started becoming abrupt in the way he would communicate things to me. Over the past couple of weeks, I have been chasing my visa, which still had not been processed. We had a brief meeting, at which my employer was rude, so I started to walk out of the meeting. Words were exchanged and he said to me that he would make it very difficult for me if I did not return and finish the meeting. When asked how, he said: "Because I have your passport." I never returned and drove away. I contacted the human resources department and spoke to the woman dealing with my visa, who said it had been finalised the day before, but I had not been told this. I asked her if it was possible to cancel the visa and return my passport to me. She said no because my employer had to approve that decision. My employer then phoned me and told me not to go to the office again and that it would take two days to cancel the visa. He said my passport would be returned to me only when I had purchased an airline ticket out of the UAE and it would be given to me at the airport. We also spoke about the settlement of leaving his employment and he said he would only pay me up to the day I had left. I told him that I had not quit, but I wanted to give him 30 days' notice, to which he told me that I was in a probationary period and did not have to give notice. He also said I was only entitled to be paid for the actual days worked. He has never offered me a contract of employment and is now telling me I have no rights because I have no contract. As the employer, is it not his responsibility to produce a contract of employment? JS, Dubai
Your employer is not acting correctly. He should not have held on to your passport for any longer than was required to obtain a visa. He also cannot force you to leave the country. I hear of many cases where employers cancel a visa and insist on handing it over at the airport, but they cannot make you get on a plane and leave the country, particularly if you are legally permitted to remain on a tourist visa. Whether you have signed a formal contract or not, standard UAE Labour Law applies. Being paid or receiving benefits is tacit acceptance of a position. If an employee is in a probationary period and if there is no formal contract, it will most likely be assumed to be for three months and the job can be terminated by either side without notice. It is indeed the employer's responsibility to prepare a proper contract, but whether they do or not, the Labour Law still applies.
I have 400 UAE National Bonds and now wish to buy an additional 400 units. However, I am in Pakistan. Can you tell me how I can buy more bonds and how I can check the weekly draw result? SPS, Pakistan
You do not have to be a UAE resident to invest in National Bonds. An online application form can be completed and submitted via its website at www.nationalbonds.ae. Payment can be made via a bank transfer using the payee details on the website. Likewise, all winners are announced on the website.
Keren Bobker is an independent financial adviser with Holborn Assets in Dubai. Contact her at keren@holbornassets.com or onyourside@thenational.ae
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If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
'Top Gun: Maverick'
Rating: 4/5
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Ed Harris
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Best Foreign Language Film nominees
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
Cricket World Cup League 2 Fixtures
Saturday March 5, UAE v Oman, ICC Academy (all matches start at 9.30am)
Sunday March 6, Oman v Namibia, ICC Academy
Tuesday March 8, UAE v Namibia, ICC Academy
Wednesday March 9, UAE v Oman, ICC Academy
Friday March 11, Oman v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Saturday March 12, UAE v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri, Muhammad Waseem, CP Rizwan, Vriitya Aravind, Asif Khan, Basil Hameed, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Karthik Meiyappan, Akif Raja, Rahul Bhatia
'The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window'
Director:Michael Lehmann
Stars:Kristen Bell
Rating: 1/5
