Question
Due to a personal bounced cheque case not related to my work, my employer suspended me because I was punished by the courts. I wasn’t jailed because I paid the fine, but my employer has suspended me for the past two months and I haven’t received my salary. Do I have the right to file a case?
Answer
Article 112 of the UAE Labour Law as amended by Federal Law no. 12 dated 29/10/1986 states the following: “The worker may be temporarily suspended from work upon the charging thereof of a deliberate crime against life, property, honour, honesty or of carrying out a strike.
“The suspension period shall commence on the date of the notification of the incident to the competent authorities and until the issuance of a decision thereby in such regard.
“The worker shall not be entitled to his wage during the said suspension period. Should a decision be issued for the non-prosecution or the acquittal of the worker, the latter shall be reinstated and paid the full wage for the suspension period.
“The employee is not entitled to any pay for the suspension period. If a decision or court order is handed down determining the acquittal of the employee then he should be reinstated and compensated for the entire period if suspension is established to be on malicious basis on the part of the employer. Such entitlement of the pay purports that suspension is malicious. The onus of proof of such malice rests on the employee. It is established by the Supreme Court that the evaluation of malicious suspension is left to the discretion of the Court of Merits, without any review once its judgement is built on sound permissible grounds duly supported in the documents. Therefore the employer is not legally permitted to suspend the employee upon the charging of a crime, if the crime is committed outside the workplace and does not relate to the work, unless the offence is one of the offences set out in article 112 which is mentioned above. In case there is no amicable settlement with the employer, the questioner should contact the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (Ministry of Labour) to file complaint and may ask the ministry to refer the complaint to the competent court.
Question
I recently resigned from my job as an engineer on a two-year limited contract, because I had not been receiving my salary on time. After completing my 30 day notice period I asked them to cancel my visa but they refused. I contacted the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation and they referred me to court. The court decision ruled in my favour and a letter was signed between the court, myself and my employer to say there was no ban on me working for any other company and that it was an arbitrary dismissal on grounds of late salary. After these orders however my ex-employer is still hassling me by asking for my passport and threatening to ban me. They say I broke the limited contract, which is against UAE labour law and they are threatening to open a new case against me. I have already got a new job in an entirely different business with a new work permit, they are just waiting for me to cancel my old visa so they can process my new visa. What should I do and who can I complain to?
Answer
You need to ratify the court’s decision from the judgements execution section, especially the acknowledgement by the employer that says they have cancelled their sponsorship without a ban. You should then take that ratified decision to the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation and request them to cancel the work permit without a ban, especially as the judgement mentioned that you had been arbitrarily dismissed. Such a judgement will be considered by the ministry and you shouldn’t bow to threats from your old employer.
