Ask Gulf News: Can you claim damages if a job offer is cancelled before joining?

Question: I signed an abroad employment contract with a company after I passed a number of interviews that lasted for nearly a year. Two months ago, they asked me to resign from my previous job in preparation for bringing me in and starting to work for them. One week ago, the company terminated the contract on the grounds that it is conditional upon obtaining the necessary approvals from the competent authorities, which they couldn’t. My question: Am I eligible for the material and moral damages as a result of their terminating the employment contract? Please advise.

Answer: It is true that pursuant to Article (282) of the Civil Transaction Law, “Any harm done to another shall render the actor.” And in all cases, the compensation shall be assessed on the basis of the amount of harm suffered by the victim, together with loss of profit, provided that that is a natural result of the harmful act.

But in case the rejection was issued by the competent authorities without the company’s intervention, and because of this, the company couldn’t finalize your work permit, then this indicates that the company did not violate the terms of the contract concluded between both of you, and thus the court might not accept your case according to Article (246) of the same law: “(1) The contract must be performed in accordance with its contents, and in a manner consistent with the requirements of good faith.” And Article (1) of the Evidence Law: “The plaintiff has the right to prove his claim, and the defendant has the right to disprove it. The onus of proof weighs on the claimant.”

Anyway, the court shall solely have the jurisdiction to check the case and give its judgment as per the situation and documents submitted.

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