I have worked in a company for more than six years. My labour contract has been terminated by the company. I would like to know what my end-of-service gratuity would be as per the UAE Labour Law. Whether gratuity is calculated on the basis of 21 or 30 days? During my years of service, I had been absent from work for a total of four months. My employer says that period would not be included in calculating in my total period of service. As per the UAE Labour Law, do I need to pay a court fee in case I file a labour case against my employer?
Article 132 of UAE Labour Law states the following: “A worker who has completed a period of one or more years of continuous service shall be entitled to severance pay on the termination of his employment. The days of absence from work without pay shall not be included in calculating the period of service. The severance pay shall be calculated as follows: 21 days’ remuneration for each year of the first five years of service; 30 days’ remuneration for each additional year of service provided that the aggregate amount of severance pay shall not exceed two years’ remuneration”. Finally as per Dubai Labour Courts, the employee need to pay a court fee only if the claim amount is more than Dh100,000.
Labour dispute time
I had worked in a company in Dubai for more than three years. Two months ago, my company terminated my labour contract, which was to expire in March 2017, without any reason. A month ago, I filed a labour complaint against my company in the labour ministry because my employer had refused to pay my end-of-service gratuity. In the first hearing, the employer’s PRO came to the Ministry of Labour and mentioned that the employer was out of the country and would come back within a week. Therefore, the arbitrator who was handling the case agreed to give the employer one week’s time. In the second sitting, the PRO again came to the ministry and asked for one more week because the employer was still outside the country. The arbitrator asked me to agree to adjourn the hearing to the next week and I agreed with the provision that it should be the last chance for the employer in this regard. My question here is: in case my employer does not come to the Ministry of Labour for the third time, what is the legal period as per the Labour Law for the complaint to remain in the ministry? In the event the employer does not attend the next hearing, what is my legal right in this case as per the UAE Labour Law?
Article No (6) Amendment of Federal Labour Law No 8 of 1980 states: “Without prejudice to the provisions concerning collective labour disputes stated in this law, if the employer or the worker or any beneficiary thereof raised a claim concerning any of the rights accruing to any of them according to the provisions of this law, he shall submit a request thereof to the Labour Department concerned. This Department shall summon the two parties to the dispute and shall take whatever it deems necessary to settle the dispute amicably. If the amicable settlement is not reached, the said department must within two weeks from the date of submitting the request, submit the dispute to the court concerned. The submission must be accompanied with a note including a summary of the dispute, the arguments of the two parties and the observation of the department. The court shall, within three days from the date of receiving the request, fix a sitting to consider the claim and the two parties shall be notified thereof. The court may summon a representative of the Labour Department to explain the note submitted by it. In all cases, no claim of any entitlement due under the provisions of this law shall be heard if brought to court after the lapse of one year from the date on which such an entitlement becomes due, and no claim shall be admitted if the procedure stated in this article are not adhered to.”
Therefore, in accordance with the above article, in the event of non-attendance of the employer or no settlement is reached in this regard, the questioner shall ask the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation to refer the complaint to the competent court and to reject any other adjournment in this regard.
Questions answered by advocate Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba of Al Shaiba Advocates and Legal Consultants.
