Unpaid leave can’t be arbitrarily imposed

■ I have been working in a private company for three years now. Four months ago, the company asked me to go on unpaid leave on the ground that the company was going through a financial problem. Two weeks ago, I returned to the company, asking them to either assign me a job or settle my dues and cancel my residency permit. However, the company has refused to do so. My question is: Do I have the legal rights to file a labour lawsuit against the company, knowing that I am currently not resigning? The company’s representative stated that I had no legal rights to file a labour lawsuit until I resigned or until the company terminated my services. Please advise.

You have the right to file a complaint with the UAE Labour Department while you are still working with the company. It is not necessary for you to resign or for the company to terminate you in order to be able to file the complaint. Moreover, filing such a complaint does not mean that the employment relationship has come to an end. While filing the complaint, you have to pay attention that there are some labour rights that cannot be requested for unless the employment relationship has ended, like the gratuity. However, salary is not part of that.

The law has given the worker the right to file his or her complaint before the Labour Department. Article 122 of the UAE Labour Law states: ‘A worker’s services shall be deemed to be arbitrarily terminated by his or her employer if the reason for termination is irrelevant to the work. Particularly, a termination shall be regarded as arbitrary if it is prompted by a formal complaint filed by the worker with the competent authorities or a legal action instituted against the employer that proved to be valid.”