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29 March 2024

Firms cannot slap new entry ban after first expires

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By Staff

The Federal Supreme Court has ruled that companies cannot impose a fresh ban on former workers after their old ban expires, Khaleej Times reported on Thursday.

The law allows workers to re-enter the country using a new visa after the end of the first ban, the court said. The ruling came following a case filed by an Indian foreman against a contracting company where he worked for seven years.

According to the worker, his employer terminated his service because he demanded an increase in salary. The company then cancelled his residency and imposed a one-year ban on him from the Department of Naturalisation and Residency. He was later deported to his country.

After the expiry of the ban, a maintenance firm issued an employment permit for him. His new company stamped his passport with a residency visa, but his former employer filed a malicious lawsuit demanding imposition of a new one-year ban on him.

The old company also sought his arrest and deportation despite his legal status.

The worker asked the court to intervene and stop his former employer from harassing him at his new work site. He also demanded suitable compensation for the financial and psychological damage caused to him.

The Federal Court of First Instance in Abu Dhabi threw out the case, but the worker contested before the Federal Court of Appeal which quashed the primary verdict, saying the worker had the right to stay on and work in the country.

The former employer challenged the judgment before the Federal Supreme Court which turned down its petition and confirmed the legal status of the worker.

“Companies which impose a ban on workers cannot do that again after the expiry of that sanction because it has nothing to do with them,’’ the apex court ruled.