Employee sues firm over Dhs316,000 in unpaid dues

The Abu Dhabi Labour Court has issued a first-instance judgment ordering a company to pay a former employee Dhs316,333 in outstanding employment entitlements. The employment relationship ended without the company settling his unpaid salaries, annual leave allowance or end-of-service gratuity following more than 13 years of service.

The employee filed a lawsuit against his former employer seeking Dhs232,500 in unpaid wages, Dhs75,164 in end-of-service gratuity and Dhs9,000 in annual leave allowance.

He also requested that the company bear legal fees and costs and that the judgment be immediately enforceable without a security deposit, citing the company’s failure to fulfil its contractual obligations.

The court explained that the burden of proving payment of wages rests with the employer. The company submitted no evidence refuting the employee’s claims or demonstrating that the outstanding wages had been paid. The court therefore awarded him the requested Dhs232,500 in unpaid wages, noting that his employment contract set his gross monthly salary at Dhs15,500.

On the annual leave claim, the court found that the company had not provided legally recognised evidence of payment. In line with established judicial precedent, it awarded the employee Dhs9,000 for annual leave covering the final two years of his employment.

The court also established that the employee had served the company for 13 years, 11 months and 20 days, entitling him to an end-of-service gratuity of Dhs74,833. This brought the total award toDhs316,333.

Recently, the Abu Dhabi Labour Court of First Instance ordered a company to pay Dhs90,750 in compensation to a dismissed employee for failing to pay his salary for 4 consecutive months and abstaining from giving him the notice-period allowance.

The employee filed a lawsuit against the company he used to work for, in which he requested the court to obligate the company to pay him approximately four months of outstanding wages, totalling Dhs74,250, as well as one month’s salary in lieu of notice, amounting to Dhs16,500.

He also requested that the company be ordered to cover legal costs and that the judgment be made subject to immediate enforcement.

The court stated that the amount or type of remuneration must be specified in the employment contract; if it is not, the competent court shall determine it, treating the matter as a labour dispute.

The employer is obligated to pay wages to their employees on their respective due dates in accordance with the ministry-approved regulations and the terms, conditions and procedures set forth in the executive regulations of this decree-law, it added.