Company Ordered To Pay Employee Dh237,581 In Gratuity And Leave Dues

The Abu Dhabi Labour Court of First Instance has ordered a company to pay Dh237,581 to a former employee who worked for it for more than 18 years and was dismissed without receiving his end-of-service and annual leave entitlements.

 

The employee filed a lawsuit seeking Dh224,081 in end-of-service gratuity and a further Dh13,500 as payment for one year of annual leave, in addition to legal fees and expenses.

 

According to the case details, the employee said he had worked for the company for several years on a basic salary of Dh13,500 and a total monthly salary of Dh17,300. He claimed that the company terminated his employment without settling the financial benefits due to him.

 

Court Examines Length Of Service

 

The court found that the employee had completed 18 years, one month and 11 days of service with the company. It said a full-time employee who has completed at least one year of continuous service is entitled to end-of-service gratuity when employment ends. The gratuity is calculated on the basis of the employee's basic wage, at the rate of 21 working days' wage for each of the first five years of service and 30 working days' wage for each additional year.

 

Applying the calculation to the employee's period of service, the court determined that he was entitled to Dhs224,081 in end-of-service gratuity.

 

Annual Leave Entitlement

 

The court also considered the employee's claim for payment for one year of annual leave. It held that payment for annual leave days is calculated on the basis of the basic wage rather than the employee's total salary. As there was no evidence before the court that the company had paid the amount due for the claimed leave entitlement, the employee was awarded Dh13,500.

 

The court therefore ordered the company to pay the employee a total of Dh237,581, covering his end-of-service gratuity and annual leave entitlement, along with the applicable fees and expenses.