Abu Dhabi court orders firm to pay employee Dhs193,671 in delayed wages and gratuity

Abu Dhabi Labour Court ordered a company to pay Dhs193,671 as compensation to an employee who had worked for it for over 17 years and after his services ended, the company did not pay him his entitlements, which included overdue monthly wages, end-of-service gratuity, and annual leave allowance.

In detail, an employee filed a lawsuit against the company he worked for, requesting that it be obligated to pay him his labour entitlements and expenses, as he worked for the company for 17 years, with a monthly salary of Dhs7,000 and an all-inclusive salary of Dhs9,500.

The appellant also demanded the payment of end-of-service gratuity of Dhs183,750, a leave allowance of Dhs15,000, a travel ticket, and overdue salaries for several months amounting to Dhs60,483.

The court clarified that the case documents lacked anything indicating the company's financial clearance from the requested wages, and that the employee was entitled to his overdue wages. Given that his service period was more than 17 years, he was entitled to Dhs118,188.

Regarding the annual leave allowance, the court stated that it is legally stipulated that an employee is entitled to full-paid annual leave of no less than: thirty days for each year of extended service, two days for each month if the service period exceeds six months and less than one year.

The court added that the employee is entitled to wages for accrued leave days if he leaves work before utilising them, regardless of the duration, for the period for which he did not take leave. An employee, the court added, is also entitled to leave wages for periods of the year proportionate to the period of working, calculated according to the basic salary.

Accordingly, the employee was entitled to Dhs15,000 for his remaining annual leave balance.