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Firm ordered to pay Dh50K to ex-staffer

The Abu Dhabi Civil Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court verdict ordering a company to pay a former employee Dh50,000 in indemnity for the moral and material damage the company had caused the worker.

The employee filed a lawsuit against the company demanding that it pay him compensation for the moral and financial damage he had incurred because the company had maliciously and deliberately issued an absconder/absence notice against him, though the contractual relation between the company (the defendant) and the employee (the plaintiff) was no longer valid.

The company said the services of the employee ended, and that he had received his end-of-service gratuities including a repatriation air ticket.

The company claimed that the employee should have submitted his passport to them so that it could cancel his residence visa — which he had failed to do.

“He did not leave the country, either,” the company told the court. Based on that, the company issued an absconding employee notice.

The court clarified that a notice means reporting about an absconding employee, and as per the labour law, an employer must not issue an absconder notice against a worker in several circumstances. In the event an employer issues an absconder/absence notice against a worker, despite knowing the said fact, the employer infringes the law.

In this case, the ex-employee had lodged a labour suit against the defendant. The court had already notified the company about the worker’s complaint against it, and a representative of the company had reported to the labour department in the first sitting, which could prove that the company was well recognisant of the complaint filed against it when it issued the absconder/absence notice.

Earlier, the employee had won a court verdict in his favour when the court had lifted the notice in question, which was upheld by the court of cassation.

Accordingly, the court found the company had intentionally caused damages to the worker and ordered the defendant to pay the worker a compensation of Dh50,000.

The company was not satisfied with the ruling and appealed it before the court of appeals claiming that it did not breach a legal or contractual clause and did not commit a mistake that could render compensation.

The company contended that it had given approval to the worker to shift the sponsorship to another company three times, yet he did not turn to it, and that’s why the company issued such a notice against the worker.

On the other hand, the plaintiff demanded a compensation more than the lower court had decided.However, the court turned down their pleas and maintained the lower court ruling.

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