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You can check directly with MOHRE whether a work-abandonment report, commonly called an absconding report, has been filed against you. Contact the MOHRE call centre or use its app or website with your Emirates ID or labour details, or visit a service centre in person; you can also check your residence status with the immigration authority. If a report exists and is untrue, you can challenge it: file a complaint with MOHRE explaining the real situation and attach evidence, such as your unpaid-salary records, messages with the company, and anything showing you did not simply disappear from work. The fact that you left after a genuine wage dispute matters, because employers sometimes misuse absconding reports to retaliate against workers who claim unpaid salary, and a false report can rebound on the company. Raise your unpaid-salary complaint at the same time if you have not already, since the two issues are connected and MOHRE can consider them together. Move quickly rather than waiting, because an unresolved report can complicate a new work permit or status change. A UAE lawyer can help you contest the report and pursue the unpaid salary in the same process.

No, your employer cannot lawfully extend your probation beyond six months. The UAE Labour Law sets six months as the maximum probation period, and it cannot be extended or renewed, even with your agreement. You also cannot be placed on probation more than once by the same employer. If you keep working past the six-month mark, you are treated as a confirmed employee and the full protections of the law apply to your contract. That means you can decline to sign an extension, and the refusal itself is not a lawful ground for dismissal. Be aware that during a valid probation the employer can still terminate with fourteen days' written notice, so handle the conversation carefully: respond in writing, note that the law caps probation at six months, and keep copies of everything HR sends you. If they dismiss you over this, the termination can be challenged through a MOHRE complaint, and your notice and end-of-service rights would still apply. Your visa is tied to the job, but cancellation follows its own process and a grace period applies for finding new work. If the employer insists on the extension, a UAE employment lawyer can confirm where you stand before you sign anything.

You are entitled to sixty days of maternity leave: forty-five days at full pay followed by fifteen days at half pay. If a pregnancy-related illness or a complication affecting the baby requires more time, you may take up to forty-five additional days unpaid, supported by a medical report. After returning to work, you are entitled to a daily paid nursing break for six months. On job security, the law is on your side in principle: dismissing a woman because of pregnancy or maternity leave is prohibited, and pregnancy is not a lawful ground for termination. A restructure that conveniently removes a pregnant employee's role can be challenged if the real reason is the pregnancy, though you would need to pursue it through a MOHRE complaint and potentially the courts. Practical steps now: ask HR to confirm your leave dates and pay in writing, keep copies of any messages hinting that your role is at risk, and hold on to your performance records. Going on leave does not pause your right to complain if something happens while you are away. If a dismissal follows, a licensed UAE labour lawyer can assess a claim quickly while the deadlines are still open.

No, resigning before your fixed-term contract ends does not reduce your gratuity under the current law; the rule your colleague remembers belongs to the old regime. Before the current Labour Law took effect, employees who resigned from unlimited contracts with shorter service received only a fraction of their gratuity. Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021 abolished that approach: any worker who completes at least one year of continuous service is entitled to the full end-of-service calculation regardless of who ends the contract or why. With almost three years of service, you would receive twenty-one days of basic wage for each year, calculated on your final basic salary, with any partial year paid pro rata. What you must still do is resign properly: give the written notice your contract requires, normally between thirty and ninety days, and either work it or agree an alternative, because skipping notice means compensating the employer for that period. Also confirm that unused annual leave is paid out alongside the gratuity in your final settlement, and ask HR for a written end-of-service breakdown before your last day. If your employer disputes the figure, a UAE labour lawyer can recalculate your entitlement independently.

Yes, in most cases you are entitled to paid overtime, and a manager saying it is already included in your package does not by itself remove that right. Under the UAE Labour Law, Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021, normal working hours are eight per day or forty-eight per week, and hours worked beyond that must be paid at your normal hourly rate plus a premium of at least twenty-five percent, rising to fifty percent for overtime worked at night. If you are required to work on your weekly rest day, you are entitled to either a substitute rest day or your wage for that day plus a fifty percent premium. Only limited categories of staff, mainly senior managerial and supervisory roles, sit outside the overtime rules, and a warehouse position is very unlikely to qualify. Start by keeping your own record of the hours you actually work, then raise the issue in writing with HR. If nothing changes, you can file a complaint with MOHRE, which handles wage disputes for private-sector workers, and the service is free. A licensed UAE labour lawyer can review your contract and time records and tell you exactly what you are owed.