UAE: Not paid salary in full for 13 months, can I complain?
Employer has continued to implement salary reduction without employee’s signed agreement
Dubai: If your employer refuses to re-implement your full salary, despite the business doing well, can you raise a complaint? And will filing a complaint mean that you might not receive your dues in full? This was a query raised by a Gulf News reader.
He said: “I work for a company in Dubai and my question is regarding the temporary reduction in salary due to COVID-19. My employer has for the past 13 months not paid our salary in full since March 2020 till March 2021 and they have in addition extended the said annexure for three additional months till May 2021, which I have not signed. Our company is abusing the facility by constantly extending the annexure, for 15 months now, although the company is breaking even. They keep threatening the employees that if they do not sign and agree they will be terminated and sent home with nothing. Do I have any legal rights to complain and gain my dues? I know that I will definitely lose my job, but I do not want to leave without getting my remuneration for a year. Please advise.”
Gulf News raised the query with Hari Wadhwana, Associate at Dubai-based law firm OGH Legal, who said that the temporary salary reduction which was permitted through Ministerial Decision No. 279/2020 under the UAE Labour Law needed to be agreed upon by both the parties – the employer and the employee.
“Pursuant to Article 2 and 5 of the ministerial decision, the temporary salary reduction annexure must be agreed on and signed by both parties. Unilaterally this annexure cannot be prepared, hence your company’s assertion may be misplaced. You are well within your rights to refuse to sign the annexure and if you are terminated for this reason, you can file a labour complaint for arbitrary dismissal,” Wadhwana said.
You are well within your rights to refuse to sign the annexure and if you are terminated for this reason, you can file a labour complaint for arbitrary dismissal.
However, Wadhwana said that any claim must be filed within a year since the claim arose, as per Article 6 of the UAE Labour Law.
Transparency of Labour Court
While Wadhwana advised employee’s to try and settle complaints amicably with the employer, if an amicable settlement is not possible, employees can file a complaint with MOHRE.
“If you are aggrieved by your company’s actions, you may file a labour complaint by calling MOHRE on 80060. Please note the decision will be based on the UAE Labour Court’s judgement. The Labour Court is unbiased towards any party and acts in absolute independence. You need not worry about your company’s alleged influence. Also, you do not need a lawyer to represent and litigate your case before the Labour Court. You can take the assistance of the government-approved Al Adheed centres for representation purposes,” Wahdwana added.