Abu Dhabi settles Dh13 million workers' entitlements cases

Ajman - The Mobile Court, with a Labor Court team, moved to the workers' places of residence for lodging and registering the legal actions against their employer.

Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, through its mobile court, has recently completed the lodging of collective legal actions that involve around 1,700 workers, for the year 2016.
The Human Rights Office at the Judicial Department, in coordination with the Labor Court, facilitated the moving of the mobile court to the residence of those workers in an attempt to reach an amicable settlement with the two companies against which complaints are submitted. Yet, no reconciliation was made, so legal actions were lodged and prepared in their places of residence, supported with proofs of their claims of overdue wages, leave encashment, and compensation for arbitrary dismissal and notice periods.
The first case involved 775 workers, with different claims of overdue wages, compensation for arbitrary dismissal and notice periods, and leave encashment.
The mobile court, furnished with all devices and electronic systems available in the labor court, moved to the workers' residence trying to reconcile the disputes; however, no agreement was reached for most of the claims, so the summary matters judge moved there to register workers' petitions prior to the attachment of the company assets. Then, cases were lodged and prepared after verifying the evidence and proofs of the 600 workers' claims.
The second case involved around 1,100 workers. So, the Mobile Court, with a full team from the Labor Court, moved to the workers' places of residence for lodging and registering the legal actions against their employer company. Based on the proposal of the Human Rights Office to appoint a lawyer for assisting workers, a lawyer was appointed to handle the claims of all workers, and an ad-hoc judicial panel was formed to ensure prompt disposition of cases. Indeed, judgments have been passed within a period of three months as maximum to pay workers' entitlements of around Dh13 million.
"Their Rights. Our Responsibility."
In a related context, the Judicial Department, through "Their Rights.Our Responsibility" campaign, has reinforced its efforts to raise awareness and spread legal culture among workers, as a part of its strategy to enhance legal awareness among different segments of the society, as a way to achieve economic and social stability and security.
The campaign launched by ADJD Human Rights Office in collaboration with the Ministry of Human Resources & Emiratization, and the Higher Corporation for Specialized Economic Zones targeted 50 thousand workers across four labor camps, and included organizing educational lectures and distributing pamphlets.
The campaign activities included educational lectures in three languages; Arabic, English, and Urdu, highlighting the most prominent law articles that guarantee labor rights in the U.A.E., in addition to answering all questions and inquiries of laborers, and distributing educational pamphlets issued by "ADJD" and "MOHRE".
The campaign activities were held in different labor camps which host a vast number of laborers; to ensure reaching out to a large segment of the targeted audience. Such activities included giving lectures and distributing informative pamphlets in order to promote legal awareness and culture.
The campaign reached out to 4 labor camps and the activities involved smart screen presentations of the most significant laborer rights stipulated by the U.A.E. legislations and the facilities provided; ensuring a decent life for laborers and safeguarding their rights."
According to the survey results to measure laborer satisfaction of the campaign and its role in presenting a clear image of legislations and services provided, the satisfaction rate was 94%.
The campaign will continue its activities during the coming period by means of the mobile court in order to reach out to the largest laborer segment possible. The Human Rights Office is keen on organizing educational and awareness campaigns in collaboration with the concerned entities, and will continue receiving laborer complaints regarding violation of human rights."

• Abu Dhabi