UAE court revises labour dues to Dhs203,880 in long-service dispute

Abu Dhabi Labour Court of Appeals amended an appealed judgment and adjusted the awarded amount to Dhs203,880 instead of Dhs898,026.9, which the court had ordered a company to pay to an employee who worked for it for 22 years.

The company deposited Dhs1,116,208 into the employee's account as entitlements, including end-of-service gratuity, which was more than the employee was entitled to.

The employee pursued amicable settlement through the Ministry of Human Resources, but the dispute could not be settled and was referred to the competent court.

He previously filed a lawsuit requesting the company he worked for to pay his labour entitlements, which included salary differences amounting to Dhs38,541.62, differences due for end-of-service gratuity based on the basic salary, compensation for arbitrary dismissal (three months' salary) amounting to Dhs203,874, leave allowance amounting to Dhs672,804, notice period allowance (30 days) amounting to Dhs67,958, compensation for damages and losses such as rent expenses amounting to Dhs143,200, furniture relocation allowance amounting to Dhs29,400, a travel ticket, and legal interest of 12% from the date of claim until full payment, along with fees and expenses.

The employee clarified in the lawsuit that he joined the company in July 2003 and was dismissed from work in May 2025 and the company did not pay his entitlements, so the electronic case file was referred to the court of first instance, which ordered the company to pay the employee Dhs898,026.9 and a return travel ticket to the place from which the employee was recruited.

However, neither party to the lawsuit was satisfied with the judgment, so they appealed it.

The court referred the case for investigation and when the company was asked about the Dhs1,116,208 for the employee's entitlements, including end-of-service benefits, it stated that it had deposited this amount and provided a receipt attached to the appeal brief, and the employee acknowledged this deposit.

The court stated that the employee was entitled only to Dhs968,938 as end-of-service gratuity, but what the company acknowledged was more than he was entitled to.

The case documents also indicated that the total accrued leave for the employee for the claimed period was 200 days, and the company paid the employee Dhs19,667.

By deducting this amount from the amount due to him for his accrued leave, the net amount due to him for leave allowance was Dhs184,213, so the court adjusted the awarded amount to Dhs203,880.