Dead worker’s family entitled to insurance payment

The Article is written by Advocate Mr. Mohammad Ebrahim Hassan Al Shaiba of Al Shaiba Advocates. Originally it was published in Gulf News. For the knowledge we are pasting here. 

My brother worked for a company for more than five months. He died last month due to a work-related accident. When I went to my brother’s company to inquire about the compensation they told me that they are waiting for a response from the insurance company as all workers have been insured. According to them as per the labour contract signed by my brother with the company, the employer is not responsible for paying any compensation in case of any work-related accident and only the insurance company will pay the compensation. My question here is, who is liable as per the labour law for paying the compensation in this case? What will be the maximum compensation in this case? How it will be calculated as per the UAE labour law and distributed among the family members of my brother? The company also told me my brother is not entitled to and compensation because he had not completed the probation period.

Answer: The Article No. 149 of the Federal Labour Law No. 8 of 1980 states: “Where a worker dies as a result of a work-related injury or an occupational disease, the members of his family shall be entitled to compensation equal to his basic wage for twenty-four months, provided that the amount of compensation shall neither be less than Dh18,000 nor more than Dh35,000. The amount of compensation shall be calculated on the basis of the last wage received by the worker before his death. The compensation shall be distributed among the deceased worker’s dependents in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 3 attached to this Law. For the purposes of this Article the expression “deceased worker’s family” refers to the following persons who were wholly or substantially dependent for their subsistence on the deceased worker’s income at the time of his death.

1. Widow(s),

2. Children” Sons who are under 17 years of age, and also sons who are regularly enrolled in educational institutions and are under 24 years of age or who are too mentally or physically incapacitated to earn their own living. The term “sons” includes the sons-in-law of the husband and of the wife who was dependent on the deceased worker at the time of his death;

? Unmarried daughters, which term includes also unmarried daughters-in-law of the husband and of the wife who was dependent on the deceased worker at the time of his death;

3. Parents

4. Brothers and sisters, subject to the conditions prescribed for sons and daughters”. Therefore as per the above article, the employer is liable for paying such compensation to the worker’s heirs immediately.

Therefore, as per the UAE labour law, the employer is responsible by law to pay for the compensation despite that the company made the employee sign that the employer is not responsible for such compensation.

As per the UAE labour law, the employee is entitled to claim the work-related accident compensation even if had not completed the probation period.

I worked in a company for two years under an unlimited contract. Two months ago I submitted my resignation. In my labour contract, it is mentioned that my notice period is three months. In fact when I signed the labour contract I did not notice that clause, otherwise I would not have signed it. Now, my employer is saying I need to work for a notice period until I collect all dues from the clients, otherwise, he will not pay my end of service benefits and cancel my visa. My questions are:

1) How do I calculate my end of service benefits? My total service is two years. And does it makes any difference in calculating my end of service benefits if I had resigned from my job or was terminated?

2) As per the UAE labour law, does the employer has the right to increase the notice period to more than 30 days as mentioned by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation?

Answer: The Article No 137 of the Federal Labour Law No. 8 of 1980 states: “Where a worker who is bound by a contract of unlimited duration leaves his work of his own accord after continuous service of not less than one year and not more than three years’ he shall be entitled to one-third of the severance pay provided for in the preceding article; where the continuous period of service exceeds three years but does not exceed five years, he shall be entitled to two-third of such severance pay; where the continuous period of service exceeds five years, he shall be entitled to the full severance pay”. As for the notice period of three months as mentioned by the questioner, the same is in accordance with the labour law and the questioner agreed on such period. Notice period as per the UAE labour law, is 30 days only and the parties may not agree to reduce the period of notice, but may agree to increase it. Therefore, the questioner shall comply with the period stated in the employment contract. The employee is not entitled to work in a notice period more than what is mentioned in the labour contract.

As per the UAE labour law, the questioner is not obliged to collect the company dues from the clients as long as he did not sign with the employer that he is personal guarantor for such dues.