Can my employer fire me if I refuse extra work for the same salary? Q
I have been employed by a company in Dubai for 18 months as an operations manager. Recently, my employer gave me an amended job description for the role of project manager with new responsibilities on top of my current role as an operations manager. This was without any increment in salary or change in job title. I told my employer that I am not qualified or comfortable with taking on the role of project manager. My employer then gave me the choice of taking on the role without the change in title or salary increment or he would have no choice but to make my position redundant. This conversation was conveyed over WhatsApp messages. I declined the position again and have now been given a termination letter with 30 days’ notice. The company stated it was making a financial cutback because of a lack of business. The letter does not stipulate that my employer is making my position redundant but only that my employment is being terminated. I asked my employer to amend the letter to state that he is making my position redundant but my employer has refused, enforcing the termination.
Is it legal for an employer to force an employee to choose between either taking on a different role with no change in title or salary, or be terminated?
AContracts under the UAE Employment Law are binding and enforceable. Both the employer and the employee must respect the terms and conditions.
Changing any of the terms and conditions, including the job position and description, requires the approval and agreement of both parties. The employer’s conduct in this situation is considered to be illegal and falls under articles 122 and 123 of the UAE Labour law, Federal Law No 8 for 1980, which covers arbitrary dismissal.
The law and its amendments identified the terms of an employment contract in Chapter 1, which states that a contract is any agreement, whether for a limited or for an unlimited period, concluded between an employer and an employee under which the latter undertakes to work in the service of the former and under their management or control, against a remuneration payable to him by the employer.
The article defined remuneration as whatever is given to the employee in consideration of their services under the employment contract, whether in cash or in kind, payable annually, monthly, weekly, daily, hourly, or by piecemeal or pro rata to the production or as a commission.
The remuneration includes the high cost of living allowance, and any benefit given to the employee in reward for their honesty or efficiency, provided these amounts are prescribed in company bylaws or the contract, or normally practised or granted to employees, until they have been regarded by these as an integral part of the remuneration rather than a donation.
The above definition obliges the employer to produce a new written contract that specifies the new amendments and tasks, salary and other changes.
I asked my employer to amend the letter to state that he is making my position redundant but my employer has refused, enforcing the termination