Can a partner in a firm demand a salary for services rendered?

I am a partner in a limited liability company and I have also been a manager in the company for two years, but without a labour contract. A month ago, I was given a labour contract. My questions are: Firstly, am I legally entitled to add a clause for salary or commission in the labour contract for myself, despite the fact that I am a partner in the company and receive a share of the profits? Secondly, am I legally entitled under the current contract to demand the salaries for the period before the issuance of the labour contract? Also, will the duration for which I had worked before the issuance of the labour contract be counted as part of my current work period?

You have the right to include the clause of commission or salary in your labour contract, provided the other partners agree to it because according to the labour contract, the wage you receive is against the management services you provide to the company and this remuneration is a type of commission.

Secondly, you neither have the right to demand salaries for the period before the issuance of the labour contract nor will the previous work period be counted under the current labour contract — unless this is accepted by the other partners. As a matter of principle, there is nothing in the law that prevents a worker from combining his capacity as a wage earner and that of a partner, provided each of the roles is distinguished from the other.

Article (235) of Federal Law No (8) Of 1984 regarding commercial companies in the matter of managing limited liability companies states that the management of the limited liability company “shall be undertaken by one or more managers who are chosen from among the partners or from others for a fee or by way of donation”. If the manager is one of the partners, his choice of management is considered part of the company’s contract and then replacing another manager is considered an amendment to the company’s contract.

Being a director before signing the labour contract means that your relationship with the company is a relationship based on partnership in the limited liability company in the manner stipulated in its memorandum of association and not a working relationship. Also, your dues at that time were calculated according to your partnership agreement, but once you are appointed under a formal labour contract that is independent of the company’s Articles of Association and is not linked to it and in return for a wage, then you are considered one of the workers linked to the company by virtue of a work contract.