In the past few days, the practice of reducing employees’ salaries, compelling them to take paid leave or unpaid leave, and even terminating the services of employees and workers in an arbitrary manner under the pretext of precautionary measures to confront the spread of the novel coronavirus has become widespread. The real trap into which those companies have fallen lies in their assumption that they were legally protected under Ministerial Resolution No. 279 of 2020 concerning employment stability in private sector establishments during the period of application of precautionary measures to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. However, it is evident that those companies did not seek legal advice before taking such steps, which may cost them dearly in the near future. They will be surprised by an innumerable number of legal claims, and the matter will not stop there. Whatever profit those companies hoped to achieve by deducting the salaries of their employees or terminating their services will turn into a serious setback when they are required to pay compensation for arbitrary dismissal to every employee whose service was terminated, in addition to paying all of their labor entitlements in full, without deducting a single fils.
In truth, upon reviewing the aforementioned ministerial resolution, one finds that it is highly precise, as the measures set out therein were expressly conditioned upon the establishment being affected by the precautionary measures. In other words, the decisive factor in determining whether that resolution applies is whether the company was actually affected by the ongoing events.
Accordingly, by implication to the contrary, if the company was not affected by the precautionary measures, it has no right to benefit from that resolution. This means that if it is established that the company’s financial position was not adversely affected by such precautionary measures, yet it nevertheless terminated employees’ contracts, reduced their salaries, or forced them to take unpaid leave, then it will have exposed itself to countless legal actions that will inevitably impose substantial financial liabilities upon it. Moreover, I believe that its commercial reputation will also be affected in one way or another.
In conclusion, I hope that the competent authorities entrusted with safeguarding the economic situation and employment stability in the State will issue several decisions imposing deterrent fines on companies proven to have improperly exploited the aforementioned ministerial resolution, given the significant impact such misuse may have on the economy of the United Arab Emirates.
Alternative version
If you want a more polished article style for publication, this sentence is especially important: Ministerial Resolution No. 279 of 2020 was issued to regulate employment relations in affected private-sector establishments during the COVID-19 precautionary period, and its application was tied to establishments actually impacted by those measures.
