A reader from Dubai asks: I work in a company on a limited period contract which will expire in October 2015. I earn a salary of Dh10,000 per month, accommodation allowance and bonus. One month ago, my company sent me a letter stating that it will suspend my accommodation allowance and bonus for 2014 due to financial problems. My manager informed me that the company did not do good business in 2014. The letter also states that accommodation allowance and bonus for 2013 will be deducted and that the letter serves as an amendment of my labour contract. I sent the company a letter refusing the offer. Does the company has the right to violate the labour contract? Can this letter from the company be considered an amendment to my labour contract? What should I do to protect my rights?
The letter which the questioner has received from the company with regard to the deduction of accommodation allowance and bonus is illegal and contrary to labour law. The questioner shall stick to the labour contract and the company is obliged to comply with the terms and conditions of the labour contract. In case the company does not respond and insists on deduction mentioned in the letter, the questioner has the right to file a complaint before the Ministry of Labour and at the labour court, in case there is no amicable settlement with the company in the labour ministry.
A reader from Dubai asks: I would like to inquire about compensation with respect to an employment accident, which leads to death. Is the amount of compensation calculated on the basis of the basic or total salary. Who is entitled to such compensation as per the labour law? The company is offering only Dh10,000 because the deceased employee has worked in the company for only seven months.
Article No 149 of the labour law states the following: “Where a worker dies as a result of an employment accident or an occupational disease, the member of his family shall be entitled to compensation equal to his basic remuneration for 24 months; provided that the amount of compensation shall not be less than Dh18,000 or more than Dh35,000. The amount of compensation shall be calculated on the basis of the last remuneration received by the worker before his death. The compensation shall be distributed among the deceased worker’s dependants in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 3 attached to this law.
For the purpose of the provisions of this article the expression ‘deceased worker’s family’ means such of the following persons as were wholly or principally dependent for their subsistence on the deceased worker’s income at the time of his death: Widow or widower, Children, namely sons under 17 years of age and sons who enrolled in educational institutions and are under 24 years of age or who are mentally or physically incapacitated for earning a living. The term ‘sons’ includes the sons of husband or of the wife who were in the deceased worker’s care at the time of his death, unmarried daughters, which term includes unmarried daughters of the husband of the wife who were in the deceased worker’s care at the time his death, the parents and brothers and sisters, subject to the conditions prescribed for sons and daughters.”
As per the above mentioned article, the family members of the deceased employee have the right to get full compensation as mentioned in the said article regardless of working period with the company.
Questions answered by advocate Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba of Al Shaiba Advocates and Legal Consultants.
— Compiled by Bassam Za’za’, Legal and Court Correspondent
