I have been working for a real estate company for more than three years. Eight months back, my company suspended me after filing a criminal case against me. Therefore, I had been without salary and a job for eight months. Last month, the court passed a judgement in my favour after finding that I was not guilty and that it was an unfair case filed against me by the employer. My questions are: Do I have the right to get the pending salary of eight months? Will these eight months be included while calculating my end-of-service dues? Do I have the right to file a case against the employer in this matter and ask for compensation due to the false case he had filed against me?
Article 112 of the Federal Labour Law No. 8 of 1980 states: “A worker may be temporarily suspended from work if he is accused of committing a deliberate offence involving an assault on a person or property or crimes relating to honour and honesty or the offence of an unlawful strike. The period of suspension shall run from the date on which the incident is reported to the competent authority and until the latter has given a decision in the case. The worker shall not be entitled to his remuneration in respect of the period of suspension. Where it is decided not to take the worker to the court or the worker is acquitted, he shall be reinstated in his work; he shall be paid his remuneration in full for the period of suspension if it was maliciously contrived by the employer.”
Since you are acquitted by the court, you shall be entitled to be reinstated in your employment with all your remuneration paid for the period you had been suspended. At the same time, you have the right to file a criminal case against the employer in case the court had decided that the complaint was malicious. Also, you can file a civil case in this regard to demand a proper compensation for the damages.
Regarding your question whether the days of absence from work without pay be included while calculating the period of service, I would like to clarify that Article 132 of the UAE Labour Law provides for the following: “A worker who has completed a period of one or more years of continuous service shall be entitled to severance pay on the termination of his employment. The days of absence from work without pay shall not be included in calculating the period of service. The severance pay shall be calculated as follows: 21 days’ remuneration for each year of the first five years of service, and 30 days’ remuneration for each additional year of service provided that the aggregate amount of severance pay shall not exceed two years’ remuneration.
However, the number of years in service shall not include the days of absence from work without pay. Therefore, your suspension period shall not be included in the calculation of the period of service, and the gratuity shall be calculated according to your last working day in the company.
Shareholder partner
I am a partner in a limited liability company. I am a 20 per cent shareholder in the company. As per the UAE Commercial Law, who has the right in the company to dismiss the partner manager and what is the procedure to dismiss the manager?
According to “Article 85 Vacancy of the office of the manager”, unless the memorandum of association of the company or the contract appointing the manager provides otherwise, the manager shall be dismissed by a decision of the General Assembly, whether the manager is a partner or not. The court may dismiss the manager on a request made by one or more partners in the company if the court deems that such dismissal is justified.
Secondly, the manager may file a written resignation to the General Assembly, with a copy to the competent authority. The General Assembly shall decide on such resignation within 30 days from the date of submittal, otherwise, his resignation shall be effective upon the expiry of this period unless the memorandum of association of the company or the contract appointing the manager provides otherwise.
Thirdly, the company shall notify the competent authority about the termination of service of the manager not later than 30 days from the date of termination. The company shall appoint another manager during such period.
— Questions are answered by lawyer Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba of Al Shaiba Advocate and Legal Consultants
