ABU DHABI — Every worker has the right to ask the human resources department of his company to give him a copy of his leave application after approval by the HR, to avoid any fraud he might face at the hands of the company management or its owner, according to a Ministry of Labour (MoL) official.

The worker must keep a copy of his original approved leave application signed by the HR manager or another authorised person to avoid any problems at a later stage as a result of the absence of the application copy with him or due to fraud by the company , by way of altering the dates of start and end of the leave period, Ahmed Al Besher, legal adviser at the MoL, explained.

Khaleej Times spoke to some workers who faced problems in the absence of the copy. One of them, Bassam Hassan Al Alaka, a Syrian, worked for Petroleum Equipment Company, based in Abu Dhabi, for nine months. He has filed a complaint with the MoL last November to get his dues from the company.

He claimed that the owner made a report to the MoL that he was absent from work for more than two months while he was actually on leave. As a result, the immigration blocked his entry to the country.

"I was on leave in Syria for which I had applied and it was approved by the owner of the company. Some workers called me to tell me that the owner did not want me to work for him any more. Therefore, he had blocked my entry into the UAE after I had departed from the country," he said.

"When I returned to the UAE, I was arrested at the Abu Dhabi airport. I spent 40 days in prison like a criminal as a result of the  employer's report against me," the worker said.

"I wanted the owner to provide the original approved leave application to the MoL, but he provided a copy," he noted, adding, "I am sure that the copy is forged. He should  give  the original copy to  the ministry , but he refuses."

Bassam said his lawyer told him that his total dues to be paid to him by the company were more than Dh20,000. "I want my money, and I need an explanation from the legal adviser at the MoL about the delay in the legal report ordered by the Minister of Labour," he added.

Bassam said that he had approached the Minister to expedite the decision on his case.