Questions & Answers
Employee's rights when being terminated during COVID-19 outbreak
I have been working as a training sales manager for more than 18 months now in a university under a free zone in Dubai.
My employer keeps threatening me that I will lose my job if no students enrolled for short courses within the COVID-19 impacts, however, I'm doing my job and others' jobs on a daily basis.
He is still not satisfied with the results and keeps threatening me every day, I don't know what should I do?
Also, I need to know my rights in case they decided to fire me as they said that they can fire me without any financial rights because of the current circumstances!
Please advice!
You are entitled to all payments according to the law if you will not be terminated for not reaching the target.
If there is no agreement regarding the target, also the employer can terminate you, but they should follow the process according to the new resolution, which was issued during COVID-19:
Article 2 of Resolution 279 states as follows.
Companies seeking to adjust their business structure in the wake of COVID-19 are to gradually adopt the following actions, in agreement with their employees:
1) Implementation of a remote working system.
2) Grant paid leave.
3) Grant unpaid leave.
4) Temporary salary reduction during the referenced period.
5) Permanent salary reduction.
Article 3 of Resolution 279 states that any Companies affected by COVID-19 and having to implement the precautionary measures must further register their ‘redundant workforce’ in the Virtual Labour Market to enable other companies to be able to utilize the affected employees on a rotation system dependent upon their needs.
The affected Companies will still need to remain committed to their employees in terms of accommodation and other entitlements, save for salary, until the employee obtains another job or leaves the UAE.
It would appear that the above system is to be implemented once any of the five precautionary methods are taken, however, it seems that the implication is that it is only if the employee is redundant.
Therefore, employees working remotely whom are still utilized and productive would not likely fall into the intended category. Further to this, only point 3-5 will require employee consent.
Dear questioner,
As your employment is not target based, your employer can not terminate your employment.
Further, any termination which is not related to employee's performance can be treated as arbitrary dismissal wherein you can claim salary up to 3 months in lieu of arbitrary dismissal.
Please note that even as per the recent guideline (Article 2 of 279), any changes in employee's employment will have to be done in consultation with the employee. it can not be forced upon him/her.
If need be, kindly contact us via phone for a detailed discussion or write us an email for further assistance.
Dear questioner,
Your labor rights are protected. in case of termination, you may file a complaint to claim all your rights as per your employment contract as well as compensation for arbitrary termination unless your termination was legally justified by the Employer due to reason of performance (if your labor contract illustrates such clause ).
In the event of your dismissal without a legitimate reason, you can file a complaint with the Free Zone Authority and get all your work dues from late wages, compensation for unfair dismissal, and all worker's rights.
And you can contact us via e-mail or phone.
