It surprises us how often we hear from candidates who have been asked for money in return for an interview, charged a fee for an agency to ‘prioritise’ their CV or pay to become a ‘premium member’ of a job board.

First of all, and most importantly, any recruitment agency operating in the UAE asking candidates for a payment to find a job is breaking the law. The same goes for any agencies that ask for a fee to list a person’s CV. In many cases, this is little more than a way of scamming job seekers.

It was made clear in Ministerial Order 52 of 1989, Article 6 that all expenses incurred in taking on an employee must be borne by the employer and cannot be passed on to the employee

Article (6)

The Agency is prohibited from:

a- Employing or recruiting any worker who falls under the category of children not permitted to work according to applicable laws in the country.

b- Acquiring, directly or indirectly, from the worker himself or through mediation, any sums, monies, rights or gains under the name of commission, fees, or anything else for any reason and through any means whatsoever. The Ministry may oblige the Agency to submit a pledge to such effect, while obliging it to refund to the worker any amounts paid to any entity or person inside or outside the country with whom the Agency had dealt on the matter.

How do agencies get paid?

Legitimate recruitment agencies receive a fee for sourcing the best candidate in the market, which is paid by the employer once the candidate has accepted a role. If the selected candidate resigns within an agreed timeframe, the agency is often liable to find another free replacement candidate – therefore agencies put in a lot of work to ensure that the candidates they propose are an excellent fit for the role.

What do you do if an agency wants to charge you? Many of these scamming agencies are not actually based in the UAE for legal reasons.  They still have access to local CV sites, and call from overseas with the promise that they can find you a job if you pay them.  Just walk away…. If you want to report the agency for operating in this illegal manner, you can report them to the Ministry using their main helpline number, 800 665.