Ask the Law: How do I prove to court that I paid my employee’s salary?
There is a legal remedy in case there is no document or written proof of salary payment
Question: I am a company owner. A month ago, one of my employees filed a labour lawsuit demanding late salaries – as he claimed – although I gave him all his salaries, but not through the bank, in cash. However, I have no evidence that he received these salaries. Is the employee considered resigned from work after filing a labour lawsuit against the company, provided that since the date of filing the labour lawsuit, he did not attend work. How do I prove to the court that I paid him all the salaries? Please advise.
Answer: It is decided in Dubai Higher Court in cassation no. 55/2021 that: “It is not permissible to prove that workers have received their wages, whatever its value or nature, except by writing, acknowledgement, or oath, and any agreement to the contrary, even if it was previously, shall be considered null and void.”
On the implementation of this, it is not permissible to protest against the worker for the payment of his wages without his signature indicating his receipt, or his acknowledgement of this, or his failure to take the decisive oath against him for his wages due for the period in question. Which means that in case he is denying, and you do not have any document or written proof, then you have the right to request him to say the oath.
Not resigned
Since he did not resign and you did not terminate him, the employee is not considered as resigned by filing the claim. In the event he stopped to attend work by his own, you have the right to send him a warning letter regarding his absence as per the Article 44 of the new labour law which states that: “The employer may dismiss the worker without notice after conducting a written investigation with him and the dismissal decision shall be in writing and justified and the employer or its representative shall hand it over to the worker in any of the following cases: the worker is absent without a legitimate reason or excuse accepted by the employer for more than (20) twenty intermittent days during one year or more than (7) seven consecutive days.”