Company Ordered to Pay Dh875,700 After Failing to Formally Terminate Employee

The Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation has ordered a company to pay an employee Dh875,761 in unpaid salaries and employment benefits after ruling that it failed to formally terminate her employment before stopping salary payments.

The ruling, issued by Abu Dhabi's highest court, concluded a lengthy legal dispute that passed through the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal before reaching the Court of Cassation.

The employee filed a labour claim in 2025, alleging that the company stopped paying her monthly salary of $26,666 (around Dh97,866) from April 2025 without issuing a formal termination notice. She sought unpaid salaries, annual leave pay, notice compensation, end-of-service gratuity, contractual bonuses, stock-related benefits and damages for what she claimed was wrongful termination during her probation period.

A lower court initially awarded her only Dh18,350 for the notice period and a return air ticket, while rejecting her remaining claims. She appealed the decision, prompting the higher court to overturn the ruling and appoint an independent expert to examine the case.

The employee maintained that the company had never formally notified her that her employment had ended, meaning the employment relationship remained legally valid. She said she continued performing her duties after her salary stopped and was unable to join another employer because no termination documents had been issued.

The court-appointed expert found no document, letter or email showing that the company had informed the employee that her services had been terminated.

The expert also found that the employee's repeated attempts to contact the company by telephone, email and even through a newspaper notice received no response. Based on the available evidence, the expert concluded that she remained in employment until she filed her lawsuit on November 25, 2025.

According to the expert's report, the employee had been paid only until the end of May 2025 and was therefore entitled to unpaid salaries for the remaining period up to the date the case was filed, amounting to Dh760,354.

The expert further assessed her entitlement to Dh57,088 in end-of-service gratuity and Dh58,317 for 29 days of unused annual leave. The cost of a return air ticket to her home country was valued at Dh2,500.

However, the court dismissed her claims for two contractual bonuses after the expert found that she had not satisfied the conditions required to receive them.

Accepting the expert's findings, the Court of Cassation amended the earlier judgment and ordered the company to pay the employee a total of Dh875,761 in unpaid salaries, end-of-service gratuity and annual leave pay.

The company was also directed to provide a return ticket to the employee's home country or pay Dh2,500 in lieu of the ticket, unless she had already taken up employment elsewhere. In addition, it was ordered to bear the legal costs of the proceedings, including Dh1,000 towards the employee's legal fees for both stages of litigation. All other claims were dismissed.

 

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