Labourers on limited contracts to get help

The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has stressed that it will force employers who dismiss employees working on limited contracts before the end of their contract tenure without a valid cause, to pay a compensation of a maximum of three months' wages.

The ministry stressed that it will impose Article 115 of the labour law. The article deals with arbitrary termination and the employer has to pay his employees' dues, in addition to a compensation based on the number of years put in.

The ministry said that it will impose a ban on companies refusing to abide by the above article. The ban will be partially imposed on the branch of the company which failed to adhere to the ministry's order in this regard.

Commenting on the ministerial move regarding the liability of employers towards their limited-contract employees, Amin Al Saifi, an advocate who specialises in labour disputes, said: "The decision to force the employer to pay compensation to an employee for terminating his services arbitrarily is good news. It will help in reducing the number of cases referred to the court.

"Until now, the ministry used to refer cases of arbitrary termination to the court where the judge imposes Article 115 of the labour law and decides proper compensation.

"However, the amount of compensation, which is stated to be a maximum of three months' salary, is decided by the court or the authority concerned, depending on the duration of the employee's service."

He added that employment contracts are either limited or unlimited, depending on the nature of occupation and task required. For some projects the company needs to employ workers temporarily until it is complete. These workers are employed with limited contracts. Al Saifi said both types of contracts guarantee the rights of workers under the current law. However, a person with an unlimited contract may enjoy more flexibility.

"The unlimited contract is not restricted to a certain time to terminate the employee's services. Hence, the employee can resign at any time and get all his dues if his resignation is accepted by the employer.

"In my experience in this field, I have found that most collective disputes come from workers in construction companies. But the ministry has managed to protect employees' rights by imposing new rules."

The ministry recently decided to impose a punitive measure against companies which cause collective disputes. The ministry's circular comes in the wake of the ministry's Department of Labour Disputes taking a case involving 50 workers at a medical company in Abu Dhabi to court.

The employer refused to pay three months' compensation to his workers who were dismissed arbitrarily before the termination of their limited contracts. At first, the employer said he would pay compensation of one month's salary instead of three months. The ministry sent the case to court after it failed to reach a mutual settlement.

According to the circular issued on this matter, the ministry will impose a ban on companies partially.

Only the branch that violated the law will come under the ban. The ministry will summon the person in charge of the branch through fax, or a representative. If the company fails to respond to the ministry, the department will inform the company through police.

In this case, the company and all its branches will be banned. The ban will also apply to other establishments where one of the owners of the erring companies has shares. The circular also said the ministry will then impose the ban immediately the dispute is brought to its notice before starting to solve the disagreement.