Ask the law: What are my rights in UAE in claiming my salary after resignation?

Dubai: I have been working with a private company for four years. A year ago, I received a cheque from my employer for late salaries, but I did not submit the cheque to the bank until a month ago, after submitting my resignation from work. It turned out that the cheque had no balance and my employer told me that according to the Labour Law I do not have the right to claim the value of the cheque for delayed salaries after a year has passed. The employer obtained a criminal judgment against me for leaking information to competing companies. In this case, do I lose my rights regarding end-of-service benefits? Please advise.

Answer: It is true that the labour rights become time-barred after the lapse of one year from the date of entitlement to the right, as per Article 54 of the Federal Decree Law 33 of 2021.

In your case, you may use the cheque instead of chasing the employer again or file a case for the salaries. The cheque of insufficient amount is treated as an execution document that allows you to fulfil its amount through the Court’s Execution Departments. As per Article 667 of the Commercial Transactions Law, the cheque marked by the drawee as “without or insufficient balance” shall be deemed an execution deed and its bearer may request the mandatory execution, in whole or in part. The provisions, procedures and rules contained in the Civil Procedures Law shall be followed in the matter of the application for execution and the dispute thereof.

As for your labour rights, Article 51 of the Federal Labour Law does not mention end-of-service benefits. The employee may lose his rights in case he discloses secret information which means that the employee may file the case to fulfill his labor rights and the court will decide about it.