An Abu Dhabi company has been ordered to pay more than AED231,000 to a former employee after a court found it had withheld her salaries and failed to settle her entitlements upon separation.
The Abu Dhabi Labour Court of First Instance ruled in favour of the worker, awarding her a total of AED231,504 covering six months of unpaid wages, end-of-service gratuity, accrued annual leave, and notice period compensation, according to Gulf Today.
The woman had been employed at the firm for over six years on a basic salary of AED7,000, with a total monthly package of AED28,000. When her employment ended, the company had not paid her the wages owed nor settled any of her exit entitlements.
In her lawsuit, the plaintiff asked the court to compel the company to pay AED156,000 in back wages covering a six-month period, along with AED40,833 in end-of-service benefit, AED7,000 for unused annual leave, and AED51,000 as notice pay. She also sought the issuance of an experience certificate, the recovery of legal expenses, and immediate enforcement of any judgment issued.
The court found no documentation in the case file demonstrating that the company had been relieved of its obligation to pay the agreed salary, making the full six-month wage claim of AED156,000 valid.
On the gratuity, the court noted that her tenure exceeded six years, which brought her end-of-service benefit to AED17,504 — a figure that differed from the AED40,833 she had originally claimed. The AED7,000 annual leave entitlement was upheld on the basis that it be calculated against her basic wage.
The three-month notice period stipulated in her employment contract supported the AED51,000 notice pay award.
