New rules visa rules governing temporary woker permits do not represent a “drastic change” for employers and recruiters operating in the Dubai.

Samir Kantaria, head of employment at law firm Al Tamimi & Company, made his comments in response to a report in Al Khaleej newspaper, which said workers with a valid labour card and residency visa can now apply for temporary work permits.

This is because earlier rules requiring workers to complete one year with an employer before applying for a work permit have been lifted.

Kantaria told Recruiter: “Temporary six month visas and work permits to bring in personnel for project specific work were previously introduced in June 2008 to largely accommodate the construction industry that needed to bring in consultants and engineers for short periods.

“The changes to the rules referred to in the article applies to employees who are already resident and working in the UAE only.

“While appearing on the face of it to be a leap forward, the specific details of the changes remain to be seen and assessed. Allowing existing employees to work on a temporary basis, as per the previous rules, were largely designed to allow [primarily lower paid] employees who were in dispute with their previous employer to have a regular income during this period.

“This was while they dealt with the issues relating to their settlement/dispute through the courts or where an employer had failed to pay employees and/or where the employer’s operations had remained closed for more than two months.

“It is unlikely that the current changes to the rules will affect recruiters and in-house recruitment teams to a great extent since the changes are not drastic, and in effect the rules have been there for sometime, albeit now slightly amended.”