Abu Dhabi Court Orders Ex-employee to Return Dh79,744 Loan Amount to Company
Court finds worker still owed the company money after his labour benefits were offset against loans and advances received during employment.
Staff WriterMay 30, 2026, 12:12 PMThe Abu Dhabi Labour Court of First Instance has ordered a former employee to repay Dh79,744 to his ex-employer after finding that he had failed to settle outstanding loans and advances received during his tenure with the company.
The company filed a lawsuit seeking recovery of Dh83,569, claiming the employee had received several financial advances during his employment, supported by signed acknowledgements and company records. According to the company, the worker had been employed since 2006 and had received a total of Dh180,534 in loans and advances at various times, including cash payments and amounts related to housing rent.
Following the employee’s resignation, the company calculated his labour entitlements, which amounted to Dh96,965. After offsetting these dues against the outstanding advances, the company said a balance of Dh83,568 remained payable by the former employee.
In its ruling, the court referred to an expert report and supporting documents, which confirmed that the employee had received multiple financial amounts from the company that were documented through signed acknowledgements and accounting records and were treated as repayable loans.
The expert found that the outstanding balance of these loans stood at Dh159,205. The report also determined that an additional Dh18,519 was owed in relation to housing benefits, including rent for the period following the termination of the employment relationship and an insurance-related amount. This brought the employee’s total debt to the company to Dh177,724.
The court further found that the employee was entitled to labour benefits, including end-of-service gratuity, leave allowance, unpaid salaries and a travel ticket allowance, amounting to Dh97,980.
After deducting these employment-related entitlements from the total debt, the court concluded that the employee remained liable to pay Dh79,744 to the company and ordered him to settle the amount.
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