I live in Dubai. I have worked as a sales executive in a company for three years and have been receiving a salary in addition to commission and bonus. My contract is for unlimited period. One month ago, my employer informed me that my salary and my commission will be reduced for the reason that my company is looking to raise my target but I did not accept that because it is impossible for me to achieve the new target. Therefore, my company is pushing me to submit my resignation. A year ago, my company had already raised my target and I was forced to accept that although it was extremely difficult to achieve. I informed the company that I do not agree on the proposed salary reduction. My company insists that, in accordance with UAE labour law, if an employee receives salary plus commission and is not achieving the target set by the company, the employer is entitled to reduce the salary and the commission. My manager informed me that if I do not accept the reduction in my emoluments, I should leave work with immediate effect. My question here is: is the company legally entitled to terminate me this way? Is this action deemed as an arbitrary dismissal? As for the notice period stated in my employment offer, it is three months but my employer now says that the notice period shall be 30 days only as per the UAE labour law and not as per the offer letter.
The employer is not entitled as per the UAE Labour law to terminate the employee for non-acceptance of the salary reduction for the reason that the questioner has not accepted the high target set by the company. Therefore, termination of employee this way may be deemed by the Dubai Supreme Court as an arbitrary dismissal for which he is entitled to compensation. Regarding the notice period, if the employer fails to abide by the three-month notice period as provided in the employment offer letter in this case, the employer is obliged to compensate the questioner for a period of three months. As both the employer and employee may agree to increase the notice period, in case of such increase, both parties shall abide by the same, as per the UAE Labour Law.
Maternity leave
I am a woman living in Dubai. I have worked in a company for six months. I have completed the probation period. Currently I am eight month pregnants. Is a woman entitled to maternity leave for one time only within her employment with the company? This is what is mentioned in my offer letter and I signed it. It is also mentioned that in case I need to go for maternity leave for the second time the company will not pay for that leave: it will be unpaid leave. Am I entitled to extend such period, if necessary; is it paid or without pay and what is the period of such leave? For the period of my service, am I entitled to the whole maternity leave, which is, to my knowledge, 45 days, and is it paid or without pay?
Article 30 of the Federal Labour Law 8 of 1980 states: “A female worker shall be entitled to maternity leave with full pay for a period of forty-five days, including the period preceding and the period following her confinement on condition that she has been in her employer’s service for a continuous period of not less than one year. If she has not completed the aforesaid period of service, she shall be entitled to maternity leave with half pay.
On the expiry of her maternity leave, a female worker may be absent from her work without pay for a maximum period of 100 consecutive or non-consecutive days if such absence is due to an illness preventing her from resuming her work and if the illness is confirmed by a medical certificate issued by the medical service specified by the competent health authority or if the latter authority confirms that the illness was caused by the women’s work or confinement.
The leave provisions mentioned herein shall not be deducted from other periods of leave.
Finally, as per the UAE Labour Law, a woman employee is entitled to maternity leave every time she becomes pregnant.
(Questions answered by advocate Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba of Al Shaiba Advocates and Legal Consultants.)
