Questioner from Dubai asks: my husband worked in a construction company he died last month due to an employment accident. When I went to the company to inquire about the compensation for the employment injury for my husband, they told me that I have to wait for a response from the insurance company with regards to the compensation as the company has insurance for all workers according to them, and they told me that I need to follow up with their insurance company in order to get the compensation. As per them the company is not responsible anymore. I went to the insurance company to inquire about my husband compensation but no response. They are saying that I need to follow up with my husband's company not with them. My question here is;
1. Who is liable as per the labor law for paying the compensation in this case because it seems that both the insurance company and my husband's company are trying to avoid me?
2. What is the maximum compensation I should get? As per the labor law and how it is calculated?
Please advise me and mentioned the labor law article in details in this regard, thank you.
I would like to clarify to the questioner that article no. 149 of the Federal Labor Law No. 8 of 1980 states the following: “Where a worker dies as a result of a work-related injury or an occupational disease, the members of his family shall be entitled to compensation equal to his basic wage for twenty four months, provided that the amount of compensation shall neither be less than eighteen thousand nor more than thirty five thousand Dirhams. The amount of compensation shall be calculated on the basis of the last wage received by the worker before his death. The compensation shall be distributed among the deceased worker's dependents in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 3 attached to this Law. For the purposes of this Article the expression “deceased worker's family” refers to the following persons who were wholly or substantially dependent for their subsistence on the deceased worker's income at the time of his death:
1. Widow(s);
2. Children, namely-
• Sons who are under 17 years of age, and also sons who are regularly enrolled in educational institutions and are under 24 years of age or who are too mentally or physically incapacitated to earn their own living. The term “sons” includes the sons in law of the husband and of the wife who were dependent on the deceased worker at the time of his death;
• Unmarried daughters, which term includes also unmarried daughters in law of the husband and of the wife who were dependent on the deceased worker at the time of his death;
3. Parents;
4. Brothers and sisters, subject to the conditions prescribed for sons and daughters”. Therefore, pursuant to the above article, the employer is liable for paying such compensation to the worker’s heirs immediately and the worker’s heir are not obliged to wait for the insurance company to pay the compensation or follow up with insurance company in this regard.
