Court orders contractor to pay Dh195,000 to long-serving employee

Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Labour Court has ordered a contracting company to pay Dh195,000 to a site supervisor, covering end-of-service benefits, unpaid salaries and unused annual leave, after finding no evidence that the company had settled the worker’s entitlements.

In its ruling, the court said the case file contained no proof clearing the company of its financial obligations to the claimant.

The lawsuit, according to Emarat Al Youm, was filed by a man who worked for the company since 1999 and resigned in April 2025. 

He told the court that he had not received his dues upon leaving his job, including 10 months of unpaid wages amounting to Dh65,000, an end-of-service gratuity of Dh124,800, and Dh5,200 in annual leave compensation for the final two years of his employment. The defendant company did not appear in court.

According to the judgment, documents submitted through the court’s case management system, including the employment contract and salary records, confirmed that the claimant had been employed under a fixed-term contract as a site supervisor, with a basic monthly salary of Dh5,200 and a total salary of Dh6,500. The court applied the provisions of the UAE Labour Law issued under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021.

The court ruled that the employee was entitled to his unpaid wages, noting that employers are legally required to pay salaries on time in accordance with Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation regulations. It added that an employer’s liability for wages can only be discharged through written proof, acknowledgment or sworn oath, none of which were provided in this case.

On the matter of end-of-service benefits, the court found that the company had failed to prove any interruption in the employee’s service or to present relevant accounting records. 

It determined that the claimant had served the company for 25 years, nine months and 23 days, entitling him to Dh126,427 in gratuity based on his basic salary. 

However, as the claimant had requested Dh124,800, the court awarded the amount within the limits of his claim.

Regarding annual leave, the court held that compensation is calculated based solely on the basic salary. In the absence of evidence showing payment by the employer, the court found the claimant entitled to leave compensation for the final year and half of the preceding year. Although the assessed amount was Dh7,800, the court awarded Dh5,200 in line with the claim submitted.

The court issued an immediate-enforcement judgment ordering the company to pay a total of Dh195,000 and to bear all legal costs, while dismissing all other claims.