Abu Dhabi court orders firm to pay Dhs222,000 as pending wages, gratuity and other benefits to ex-employee

In a labour rights case, the Abu Dhabi Labour Court of First Instance ruled that a company must pay an employee, a 'civil engineer,' the sum of Dhs222,605 in fees and end-of-service benefits.

The company was also ordered to provide the employee with a certificate of experience and to cover expenses up to the amount awarded.

The details of the case concern an employee who filed a lawsuit with the relevant administrative authority, complaining that his employer was not respecting his labour rights.

When the first authority was unable to amicably resolve the dispute, it referred the case to court.

In his lawsuit, he requested that the company pay him the following: back wages amounting to Dhs358,741.94, compensation for arbitrary dismissal amounting to Dhs75,000, an annual leave allowance amounting to Dhs49,808.22, a notice allowance amounting to Dhs25,000, an end-of-service bonus amounting to 31,500, a certificate of experience, a housing and transportation allowance amounting to Dhs26,000 and that the company pay him a settlement for the cash advance account amounting to Dhs51,153, which he had paid for invoices related to the work site.

These invoices had been submitted to the company's personnel department.

The judge appointed an accounting expert. Based on the expert's report, which concluded that the employee was employed by the company as a civil engineer, as evidenced by the company's email to the employee offering a salary increase to Dhs25,000, an annual leave allowance of Dhs60,000 and a basic salary of Dhs10,000, and given the court's satisfaction with the expert's findings, the court awarded the employee Dhs100,000 in wages.

The court rejected the claim for compensation for wrongful termination and awarded Dhs20,000 for two years' accrued leave.

The court also rejected the claim for Dhs25,000 in notice pay and awarded an end-of-service gratuity of Dhs31,452 and a housing and transportation allowance of Dhs20,000.

The court also ordered the company to pay Dhs51,153 to settle the employee's outstanding cash advance.

The court therefore ordered the company to pay the employee a total of Dhs222,605 in outstanding dues and to issue him with an experience certificate.

This certificate must include the employee's total length of service, job title, type of work performed and last salary, as well as the reason for termination of the employment contract.

However, it must not contain any information that could harm the employee's reputation or reduce job opportunities.