Questions & Answers
Right of the employee to claim compensation for arbitrary dismissal
Hi,
I worked for a bank in the UAE for more than 10 years and on Dec 16, 2018.
They gave me a letter of termination mentioning that due to the realignment of operating model, they don't want to continue my services and the last date of working to be Dec 31, 2018.
They also gave the option for me to resign. Since resigning would be a better option to get another job, I decided to submit my resignation and it was accepted and they relieved me by Dec 31, 2018.
Later I came to know that the UAE labour law suggests giving one month of notice before termination and 3 months additional compensation in addition to the notice period.
I want to claim the amount from my employer. Is it possible? I have the termination letter that they had given me.
Please advise.
Regards,
A.
Dear Abdulla,
Thanks for writing to me.
From the above short description I understand that you have been served with a termination letter on 16th December 2018 mentioning 'realignment of operation model' as the reason of termination.
Please note that as per the UAE law, your employment termination is a clear case of arbitrary dismissal for which you are entitled to be compensated.
The law prescribes a maximum compensation of three months salary as compensation. Please note the word 'maximum', Article 123 gives the same emphasis to this point of maximum compensation calculation.
Following the said legal provision, the court allows compensation of 1 or 2 months as situation warrants. In practice, the court allows a whole three months compensation in rare cases only.
Hope the above explanation is satisfactory. Please feel free to write to me if you need any further clarification on the above. Thank you.
Regards,
Rajasree Ravivarma
+971585836631
