| 03 Jan 2009 |
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Settlement angers sacked workers
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03 January 2009
Dubai: Employees of a major private real estate developer who were laid off last month due to the financial crisis claim that the final settlement given by the company is not in accordance with the labour law. According to the former employees of Damac PropertiesDamac Properties
, the management calculated their three-month notice amount on their basic salaries, in contravention of the law. Ahmad (name changed upon request), a civil engineer, who worked for the company for 18 months, said his contract was terminated on November 10 and that he had to chase the management for four weeks before receiving his final settlement, in which the notice pay was calculated on the total salary.
"When I went to collect the cheque, I was surprised to find out that they had issued a second settlement calculated on the basic salary, and I was told that the changes were based on adjustments in labour regulations," said Ahmad, who will lose Dh20,000 of his end-of-service benefits if he agrees to the modified settlement.
According to the labour law, if the employer breaks a limited contract he or she has to compensate the employee for any prejudice the latter sustained for a period of no more than three months of the total salary.
An official source at the Ministry of Labour told Gulf News: "The law is clear on this issue. If an employer breaks a limited contract without a legitimate reason, he has to pay three months of the total salary. Any worker who is in dispute with his or her employer can file a complaint at the Ministry of Labour, and if an amlicable settlement is not reached the case will be referred to court."
Precedent
Advocate Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba of Al Bahar Advocates and Legal Consultants told Gulf News that the precedent set by the cassation courts carries more weight than the text of the law and previous rulings have forced employers in such cases to pay three months of total salary.
A statement sent to Gulf News by Damac PropertiesDamac Properties
said that the company "follow all the guidelines as per the UAE Labour Law in its entirety,". "During these trying times our endeavour is to ensure that the exit for our employees is smooth. We are providing them with NOC (no-objection certificates) and assisting them with any help that they may require during this transfer process," the statement said.
However, Damac PropertiesDamac Properties
declined to comment on Gulf News' questions on whether they had calculated the three-month notice on the total salary or the basic and on what provisions of the labour law did they base their decision. Ahmad and many of his ex-colleagues refused to sign the final settlement papers and have asked for legal advice at the Ministry of Labour. But they fear that the company, in a retaliatory measure, would not give them NOCs, which is required for avoiding the six-month ban when changing jobs if they file a formal complaint.
Fahed, (name changed upon request), an engineer who came to Dubai last January to work for DamacDamac
, said that this settlement was not fair especially now that he had lost his jobs "I really cannot afford to lose as much as Dh20,000, especially now that I am unemployed and have large of amount of debts. But at the same time I cannot afford to take this to court and wait for several months for the court verdict as I cannot support myself in the UAE for such a long time without a job," said Fahed adding that he just wanted his rights as per the law.
© Gulf News 2009
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Community Comments (4)
Damac is not a worst company.
As a global business it should be noted that in today's financial crisis a lot of things do happen. It is not Damac's issue that caused this global crunch. It was the US.. that affected the world over.. Sorry US... you have driven the coach for a long time... There is a time and a period that anyone can drive the economy. Yes Mo Ham it boggles your mind because you never took the opportunity to look at the Risk Assessment no did you bother to ask!!!!!. Everyone wanted to make a fast buck. May it be the agent or the employer or even the employee. Too bad none reaslise all this. No long term strategy. An organization that does not look at long term strategy has problems.... infact severe problems... An organization has to look at sustainability... and Business Continuity... I dont want to comment more... So neither is Damac responsible for this calamity nor do the employees... Every employee should enquire about the company's sustainability.. The world crisis today is suffering from this.. No sustainability... IS THAT BAD.. Employees ask for their rights this should have been done while the contract was signed.. I understand how pathetic it is in a situation as such.. In my opinion what ever the global economist say I dont think there is a turn around until 2011. Dubai and countries like Dubai will face enormous problems...... still yet to be seen... Its comming.. My advice to DUBAI is when one runs one has to WALK too...... SAUDI ARABIA is a good example...., The GCC should take a good example from Saudi Arabia... Thanks to King Abdullah... A King of foresight with an excellence of compassion with a VISION of SLOW and STEADY.... I love this King.... He is evolving a country FOR HIS PEOPLE....
It is not everything of building towers and posh residential complexes... Its all about a COUNTRY looking for its citizens.. A COUNTRY's success and its foreign residents depend on the wise thinking of its RULERS....
So my dear friend, dont blame Damac as the worst company. Did you take stock of the situation. Di you do a risk assessment of even hiring the people on both ends on the employers as well as the employees.. You would not have complained now as you did... If you had done a proper risk management and got things legally acertained.
Remember the global economic downturn is killing everyone's pockets... So be ready for it because 2009 until end 2010 is not an easy year for everyone.. Mid 2011 will see changes... In my opinion, the WORLD is in a turnoil.... and it is... None can deny this fact.... Dont belive what is expected.. Dont assume.. You can see what is happening in Gaza.....This is only draining the global economy.... a WAR......... Countries have to compromise...... Be TOLERANT...... and BEHAVE... We need the GLOBAL countries to accept the facts of reality...
Once again, a point i would like to make abount SAUDI ARABIA... is sustaining its economy... In my opinion, I think that all GCC countries should look at SAUDI ARABIA on how they think because SAUDI ARABIA WILL SUSTIAN its economy for the next few years. In 2012 the oil prices will boom and hit the celing much before the PRO-GLOBAL CRUNCH..
Gentlemen, Damac should look at a strategic solution to resolve their problems because they have an enormous growth
I only ask DAMAC MANAGEMENT to look at its EMPLOYEES give them their benefits and things will CHANGE ONLY if DAMAC thinks RIGHT
I have been doing senior level recruitment in Dubai for a number of years now and DAMAC is the WORST employer in the market. From the top, they care nothing about their employees or customers. They had a 100% turnover in their HR teams over the last 2 years and a 75% turnover overall. I refuse to do any work with them because the candidates I place would not be happy there. 100% turnover...boggles my mind!!!!!!!
Many builders like Damac, focussed only on building glitzy and shiny buildings, not realising that the artificial demand for these super expensive properties is not going to last very long.
The real demand which will sustain for years to come is for medium and low cost dwelling units, of which there is a huge demand and supply gap.
If these high profile builders had based their Business Plan on sound management principles, based on hard core data, they could have been in sound business today because they would have been still busy making affordable housing, which would continue to sell as long as country's poulation is increasing.
I hope companies like Damac realise that lots of workers and engineers, left their jobs in their home countries and decided to come to UAE, paid annual rent in one go, purchased furniture, paid children's school fees etc, have to bear tremendous monetary loss as they have to forego all their investments. Some children will lose and academic year, as well.
Therefore, for the gross mistakes of top decision makers in these companies, innocent employees should not suffer.
I hope the labour ministry will ensure that these employees get their notice pay, plus three months gross salary as compensation for arbitrary termination as per Labour Laws, plus an additional amount as compensation for inconveniences incurred by them and their family.
Because most of the employees are not aware of their rights, it is suggested, Labour Ministry should not wait for affected employees to file complaints, they should proactively monitor all cases of termination of employment.
I wonder why labor Ministry does not take action against DAMAC. These guys are bringing a very bad name to Dubai. Given the fact that the real estate boom has ended, Dubai needs more sustainibility and employees rights must be protected more than ever. If I were a sacked employee, I would have gobe to labor ministry and would have also asked DAMAC to compensate for the inconvenience caused to me due to their illegal behaviour.
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