Question.
I am a business owner. My question is, what are the penalties that the employer is legally entitled to take against employees? Currently, one of the employees filed a complaint with the Ministry of Labour demanding late salaries, and he is currently out of work and has not submitted his resignation. What is the appropriate action to take against him? Please advise.
Answer.
To answer such question, I would advise the questioner that:
1. The penalties that the employer is legally entitled to take against employees as per Article 39 of the Federal Decree Labour Law No. 33 of 2021 are: (a. Written notice; b. Written warning; c. Deduction of not more than (5) five days per month from the wage; d. Suspension from work for a period not exceeding (14) fourteen days and non-payment of wage for the suspension days; e. Deprivation from the periodic bonus for a period not exceeding one year, regarding the establishments that adopt the periodic bonus system and the worker is entitled to obtain it according to the provisions of the employment contract or the establishment’s regulations; f. Deprivation of promotion at the establishments having a promotion system for a period not exceeding two years; g. Termination of service while preserving the worker’s right of end of service benefits.)
The employer shall draw up a schedule of penalties clarifying each of the disciplinary sanctions set out in Article (39) of the Decree-Law and it should be clear to all employees. These sanctions are internal which means that it is not necessary for the employer to inform the Ministry of Labour after the penalty is imposed.
2. The appropriate action to be taken is to send him a notice for being absent from work and that he should come for investigation. In case he did not reply, you may dismiss him as per Article 44 of the Labour Law No 33 of 2021, which gives the employer the right to dismiss the worker without notice after conducting a written investigation with him in case the worker is absent without a legitimate reason or excuse accepted by the employer for more than (20) twenty intermittent days during one year or more than (7) seven consecutive days.
