Labour complaints must be filed within a year

Termination of job

It’s been one-and-a-half years now since my previous company terminated me without reason after working with them for 13 months. During this time they kept me on probation and I wasn’t confirmed. For the first three months they kept me on a visit visa. I recently discovered that it was against the law to work on a visit visa and for an employer to keep anyone on probation for more than six months. As I was technically on probation they terminated me without notice. After all this time can I still claim my dues legally?

Article No 6 (amended) of the Federal Labour Law No.8 of 1980 states the following: “Without prejudice to the rules provided for under this Law concerning collective labour disputes, if the employer, the worker or any other beneficiary thereof disputes any of the rights provided for any of them under this law, he shall file an application to the competent Labour Department, which shall summon both parties and take whatever action it deems necessary to settle the dispute amicably. If no such amicable settlement is reached, the said department shall, within two weeks from the date of application, refer the dispute to the competent court under a memorandum containing a summary of the dispute, the arguments of both parties, and the department’s comments.

The court shall, within three days from date of receiving the application, fix a hearing date and notify the parties accordingly. The court may summon a representative of the Labour Department to explain the content of the memorandum submitted by it. In all cases, no claim for any of the rights provided for in this law shall be heard if brought to court after the lapse of one year from the date of accrual, nor shall any claim be admitted if the procedures stated in this article are not complied with.”

Therefore, based on the above mentioned article, the questioner may not claim for any of his labour rights after the lapse of one year.

Reduction in salary

As per the UAE Labour Law can my salary be reduced without my approval?

As per the UAE Federal Law No 8 of 1980, as amended, the Labour Law provides clear provisions for employers to take disciplinary actions by employers on their employees. This is covered in detail in chapter six of the UAE Labour Law from Article No 102 to 112.

There are certain cases where an employer may fine or even dismiss an employee for misconduct and breach of duties and it is important for all employees to understand when these penalties can be imposed.

According to Article 102 of the UAE Labour Law, there are seven disciplinary rules that an employee should be aware of, however Article 102 of the Labour Law states that disciplinary rules can be imposed by the employer or their representative in the following forms; Disciplinary penalties which may be imposed by the employer or its agent upon its employees are as follows: Warning, fine, suspension from work with reduced pay for a period not exceeding ten days; forfeiture or deferment of periodic increment in establishments where such increments systems are applied; forfeiture or deferment of promotion in establishments where promotion system is applied; dismissal from service but reserving the right to end of service benefits; dismissal from service together with forfeiture of all or part of the benefits, provided that penalties shall not be imposed for reasons other than those specifically prescribed in Article 120 of this Law.

Regarding the question ‘can a salary be reduced without the employee’s approval?’ I can clarify that if the employer wants to reduce the salary, they should enter into a fresh employment contract signed by both parties and it needs to be submitted to the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation for approval.

Ask the Law questions are answered by lawyer Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba of Al Shaiba Advocates and Legal Consultants.