Private sector workers sacked during their probation period must leave the UAE after obtaining their dues from the employer as they are not exempt from the one-year job ban under the new law, according to the ministry of labour.

The ministry outlines this rule during its open-day meeting held every week to consider complaints from workers or their employers in line with new work laws introduced early this year to regulate the controversial ban period.

During the meeting on Monday, an expatriate female public relations employee and several other workers from the same company complained that they have just been sacked a few months after they were appointed and asked the ministry to allow them to shift to another firm and exempt them from the one-year ban.

“The ministry made clear that in case the probation period of those workers is six months and their services have been terminated during that period, then they must get their dues and leave the UAE,” Alittihad newspaper said.

“But if the probation period is set at three months in their job contract, this means they have completed their probation and they will be allowed to move to another company without having a ban since the employer violated the job contract.”