UAE: Why that signed visa form doesn’t guarantee your dues

Question: I worked at a company for five years before resigning and cancelling my visa. The company refused to pay my end-of-service dues, claiming that I had declared receiving all my entitlements when I signed the Ministry of Labour's printed form, which is required to be signed by the worker before residence cancellation. Is the company’s position legally valid, and what steps can I take to claim my end-of-service dues?

Answer: An acknowledgment is considered evidence when it is issued in an explicit form with certainty and conviction. Moreover, Article 65 of the Labor Law stipulates:

“Every release, reconciliation, or waiver of the rights arising to the worker under this Decree by Law shall be considered null if it is in violation of its provisions.”

You should file a case against the company to claim your end-of-service dues.

The Ministry of Labor's printed declaration on the residence cancellation form stating that the worker has received his entitlements, which the worker is required to sign before the residence is cancelled, it does not include the worker’s rights and the value of each of them exclusively. The rights are mentioned in an absolute, general, and anonymous manner without specifying any of them.

Therefore, the declaration is not binding on the worker and does not constitute evidence that the worker has received his labour dues. The form is not initially prepared to prove the fulfilment of the worker’s due labour rights, on the one hand, and the company should provide a separate and specific document showing that the worker received a certain sum of money in exchange for his end-of-service gratuity. In the absence of such evidence, the declaration alone is not sufficient in proving that the worker received his dues.