SHARJAH, 5 January 2005 — A UAE Labor Ministry regulation banning new employment visas and renewal of work permits for foreigners over 60 has drawn appeals from the business community.

Labor and Social Affairs Minister Ali Bin Abdullah Al-Kaabi imposed the ban last week. However, Al-Kaabi also said he would personally deal with the issue on a case-by-case basis whenever applications were filed for renewal of work permits.

Renewals, if allowed by the minister, would be limited to one year against the current three years applicable to all foreign workers in the country regardless of age.

Businessmen called the move unfair and asserted that it was their right to decide whether employees older than 60 were fit to work and that decisions should not be forced on them without consultation.

Various business councils in the country are expected to seek a meeting with the minister to appeal against the decision.

Meanwhile, immigration authorities have made it clear that the current practice of imposing automatic ban on foreign workers who cancel their residence and employment visas would continue unless there was an explicit decision against it by the federal Cabinet.

A six-month ban is imposed on all expatriates who cancel their residency and leave the country and there is no plan to lift the ban or make exemptions, according to Lt. Col. Saeed Al-Suwaidi, director of the Abu Dhabi Naturalization and Residency Department.

The ban is not applicable to expatriates who have a no-objection certificate from their current sponsor accompanied by a legally binding employment contract with another sponsor.

Officials say that employers had been abusing the ban to serve their interests and the authorities were studying means to prevent such abuse.

Another pending issue is the procedures related to maids. Under a proposal now before Cabinet, the employer and maid as well as the concerned recruitment agency must sign a legal contract to regulate the relationship among the three. The contracts would only be introduced after a salary scale for maids had been set.

The contract, which will spell out the commitments and obligations of all parties, will bind the agency to be responsible for the housemaid for the first three months after taking up the employment with the sponsor.