Job contracts signed outside UAE are null

MANILA, Philippines- Job contracts signed outside the United Arab Emirates (UAE) would not be recognized by the government there, an officer from the Ministry of Labour (MoL) reminded foreign workers on Wednesday.

Qasim Jameel, Deputy Director of Inspection Department at the MoL said that authorities are willing to assist foreign workers who have complaints against their employers, online news site Khaleej Times reported.

"We advise the workers not to sign any contracts outside the country. If they are being denied or not getting their salaries in time, they should come to the ministry and lodge their complaints," said Jameel.

"However, the ministry will not consider any contract signed outside the UAE because the labor law defines the rights of workers as per the official contracts," he added.

The Ministry also warned foreign workers that companies in the UAE are not allowed to have their employers work overtime for more than two hours a day.

Any excess period for which the employee works shall be treated as overtime and would mean that the worker would be entitled to the wage stipulated for his/her normal working hours, plus an additional 25 percent of his/her wage.

At least 10 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have filed complaints of illegal recruitment against their agent Zandra Villamora of the Princess House Party Organizer last month after having been sent to UAE with mere visit visas and forced to work for 10 to 20 hours a day for a fraction of the salaries promised to them.

A fact sheet prepared by Migrante International-UAE showed that the OFWs were hired to work by Villamora in different hotels in UAE using only visit visas. They were promised a working visa once they landed in UAE.

Upon arrival in UAE, their passport and visas were collected by a representative of Princess House and were asked to sign contracts in Arabic.

In the affidavits obtained by Migrante-UAE, the OFWs worked for six months with just visit visas. Since a visit visa is valid only for two months, they needed to exit to a nearby country in order to obtain another visit visa.

Based on the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency's data, there are more than 81,000 Filipinos working in the UAE in 2005. - Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV

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