An Employee Has Filed a Labour Complaint Against My Company

A MOHRE complaint: either party may apply to MOHRE over any right under the labour law (Art. 54(1)), and complaints are filed and tracked through the MOHRE website, the MoHRE app or by phone on 600 590 000. How MOHRE notifies an employer was not confirmed for this page, so check every channel the company is registered on. A Labour Court case: after a failed settlement, the worker must register the referred complaint with the court within 14 days of the referral being approved (Ministerial Resolution No. 47 of 2022, Art. 3); a court case can also be a challenge to a MOHRE decision.

A claim in the DIFC or ADGM: the regime follows the employing entity's registration. The federal law has no free-zone carve-out, so employers in free zones other than the DIFC and ADGM generally fall within MOHRE's process. Something else: a police complaint, or a dispute about an absence report, follows a different route — see our page on absconding reports.

Then size it: is the claim above or below AED 50,000, and has it arrived alone? Disputes involving a group of workers can follow a separate collective procedure, with a Collective Labour Disputes Committee (Cabinet Resolution No. 46 of 2022).

Three dates matter: the complaint date, because MOHRE aims to settle within 14 days of it before referring (Executive Regulation, Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022, Art. 31 — the texts say '14 days', not working days); the date of any MOHRE decision, because the company has 15 working days from notice to challenge it (Art. 54(3)); and any court session, which the Court of First Instance sets within three business days of receiving a referral (Art. 54(7)). While a dispute is open, MOHRE can also require the employer to keep paying the worker's wage for up to two months where the dispute has stopped the salary (Art. 54(5)).

Who attends: MOHRE's rules on who may represent a company at an individual complaint were not confirmed for this page, so ask MOHRE and send someone with written authority who knows the file. In court, a company can appear through a lawyer or, subject to further conditions, an employee holding a notarised proxy issued by its legal representative (Civil Procedure Law, Art. 52). What MOHRE does when an employer does not engage was not confirmed either; do not assume staying away delays anything.

No retaliation while the complaint is open. Dismissing a worker because they filed a serious complaint with MOHRE, or a case against the company that is proven true, is unlawful (Art. 47); the employer must not withhold the worker's official documents or force them to leave the country at the end of the relationship (Art. 13(2)); and an absence report is only for a worker who has genuinely stopped coming to work for more than seven consecutive days and cannot be contacted — MOHRE cancels reports that do not meet the conditions. Then explore potentially suitable employment lawyers who act for employers through LEXNOVA Legal Connect.

The employer's document checklist: the signed contract and offer letter; Wage Protection System transfer records, the system establishments registered with MOHRE must use to pay wages (Executive Regulation, Art. 16(1)(b)); attendance and leave records; warnings, investigation notes and the company's written list of penalties; the termination letter and the ground it gives; proof of notice given or paid; the end-of-service calculation; and any settlement or receipt the employee has signed.

If the employee says the dismissal was arbitrary: the statute calls it 'unlawful', and its test is narrower than many pages suggest. Under Art. 47, termination is unlawful where it is due to the worker's serious complaint to MOHRE or a case against the employer proven to be true — so the company's answer is the real reason, shown in documents dated before any complaint. A dismissal without notice must fit one of the ten grounds in Art. 44 and follow a written investigation, with a written, reasoned decision handed to the worker; the ground for persistent failure in basic duties also needs two prior written warnings of dismissal. Before any penalty, the worker must be told the accusation in writing and heard, within 30 days of the violation being discovered, and the penalty imposed within 60 days of the investigation ending (Executive Regulation, Art. 24).

If the claim is for unpaid wages or gratuity: wages and all entitlements are due within 14 days of the end of the contract (Art. 53). Gratuity is 21 days' basic wage for each of the first five years and 30 days' for each year after, once a year's continuous service is complete, capped at two years' wage (Art. 51). It is not forfeited on dismissal, even dismissal without notice — Art. 39(g) preserves it on disciplinary dismissal, and only amounts due by law or a court judgment may be deducted — and the DIFC (Art. 63(3)(b)) and ADGM also pay it on dismissal for cause. Untaken leave is paid on basic salary (Executive Regulation, Art. 19(2)), and notice is 30 to 90 days as agreed, or paid in lieu (Art. 43).

Go in with a position on each item claimed: what the company accepts, what it disputes and why, and the document that proves it. Paying undisputed sums, through the Wage Protection System where it applies, narrows the claim; a lawyer can word the payment so that it is not read as accepting the disputed items.

Be careful what you sign. MOHRE records an amicable settlement as a Ministry resolution, and if a party does not comply with it, MOHRE can decide the dispute whatever its value (Art. 54(2)) — so agree only amounts and dates the company can meet. Whether a signed settlement stops the employee reopening the claim was not confirmed for this page.

In the DIFC, a Small Claims Tribunal claim starts with a consultation before an SCT judge whose discussions are without prejudice, and an employee can waive rights in a settlement only if they warrant they had the opportunity to take independent legal advice, or the parties first took part in mediation provided by the Court (DIFC Employment Law, Art. 11(2)(b)). In ADGM, the Employment Affairs Office gives guidance on the Regulations; it does not decide disputes, and claims go to the ADGM Courts.

Where the claim does not exceed AED 50,000, or an earlier MOHRE settlement was not complied with, MOHRE decides the dispute itself, and its decision has the force of an executive instrument (Art. 54(2)–(3)). If the company neither pays nor challenges it, the worker can enforce it without a separate judgment; our guide on enforcing a judgment explains how enforcement works.

To challenge it, the company files a new case — not an appeal — in the competent Court of First Instance within 15 working days of the notice or announcement of the decision. The court sets a session within three working days and decides within 30 working days; filing the case suspends enforcement of MOHRE's decision; and the court's judgment is final (Art. 54(3)). A lawyer computes the 15 working days from the notice itself.

Claims above AED 50,000, and disputes MOHRE does not decide, go to court with MOHRE's memorandum summarising the dispute, both sides' arguments and its recommendation (Art. 54(4)), so what the company says at MOHRE travels with the file.

Registration and fees: the worker registers a referred complaint within 14 days of the referral being approved (Ministerial Resolution No. 47 of 2022, Art. 3); what applies when the company is the complainant was not confirmed. Workers and their heirs pay no judicial fees at any stage, including execution, on labour claims up to AED 100,000 (Art. 55; in Dubai also Dubai Law No. 21 of 2015, Art. 9(1)); the employer's fee position was not confirmed for this page.

The court expert: the court can appoint a registered expert, for example to check wage and gratuity calculations (Civil Procedure Law, Art. 45(4)), so the company's payroll records and its own calculation should be complete and consistent before the expert meets the parties.

The company's own claims and appeal: the employer may itself apply to MOHRE over any right under the labour law (Art. 54(1)), and a claim under a non-compete clause must be brought within one year of discovering the breach (Art. 10(3)); whether the company can counterclaim inside the employee's own file was not confirmed. The only finality rule confirmed here is that a judgment on a challenge to a MOHRE decision is final; appeal routes and time limits for a referred case should be confirmed by your lawyer the day judgment is given.

Payroll escalation and personal travel bans: where wages are late, Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026, in force since 1 June 2026, runs an escalation — notices from day 2, work-permit suspension from day 5, fines and reclassification from day 11, automatic dispute registration at day 16, and at day 21 precautionary attachment, travel bans on the named individuals responsible and referral to the Public Prosecution. How the day-16 registration interacts with a complaint already filed was not confirmed. Our guide on removing a travel ban covers what follows if one is imposed.

Other employees watching the outcome: the Minister may impose further measures on an establishment to stop an individual dispute becoming a collective one (Art. 54(6)), and the way this complaint is handled sets the pattern for the next. Fix what produced it — contract registration, WPS compliance, the written penalties list and the investigation procedure — and note the limitation: a former employee's claim cannot be heard more than two years after the employment ended (Art. 54(9)).

Bring to a first meeting the complaint or court notice, the contract and payroll records, the termination file and a short timeline. Then explore potentially suitable employment lawyers who act for employers through LEXNOVA Legal Connect; every match is reviewed by a person, and the lawyer advises on the defence, any settlement and their fees.