Employer to pay Dh50,000 for withholding passport

After over a year of fighting with the company, he was finally awarded Dh50,000 in indemnity for the damages he incurred because they unlawfully kept his passport.

In an age where an official document is required from the cradle to the grave to identify who a person really is, the man was uncertain of his future and was counting down the days when his passport would be rightfully returned to him.

Constitutions in countries around the world, including the UAE, forbid anybody to detain a passport of any person unless by a warrant from the Public Prosecution or a court.

Though this article of the law is clear, some private establishments and companies still detain the passports of their respective employees, upon their agreement, but whether they are satisfied with these terms or simply hand the document over in fear that they would lose their job is unknown.

In one such case, a man handed over his passport to his employer, which was then taken to the Naturalisation and Residency Department for a residence visa stamp.

After quitting less then six months after his start date, the man demanded his passport be given back, but the company refused to hand it over. They also failed to hand over his experience certificate, failed to pay him his delayed salaries and agreed air ticket costs.

Despite his repeated attempts with the executives, the passport was never handed back.

In a sad twist of fate, after his father became ill back in his home country, the man was unable to visit as he had no passport.

When all amicable attempts with the company were exhausted, the ex-employee filed a lawsuit at the urgent matters court in a bid to get back his passport and the court ordered the company to hand it over.

He also reported the matter to the police, who in turn contacted the company and summoned its representative to implement the court’s order.

The representative denied the passport was in the company’s possession, and asked the police whether the complainant had a document that proved he had surrendered his passport with the company. Since he had no such document, there was no legal action to execute the court’s order.

The damages he incurred did not end here, as he was unable to find alternative employment as he did not have a passport. The man was unable to earn a living for more than one year and the company was still adamant that it did not hold his passport in its possession.

Eventually he approached the Abu Dhabi Labour Court with the hope that they would rule in his favour and end his ordeal. After hearing the case, it ordered the company to pay him Dh6,000 as his end-of-service benefits, his agreed air fare, as well as to hand over his passport and experience certificate. In fear that it would have its licence suspended by the Ministry of Labour, the company handed over all that the man was owed, including his passport.

Though the labour court verdict had given him all his rights, the man filed a lawsuit against the company with the Abu Dhabi Civil Court to get compensation for the damages inflicted upon him during the ordeal including the loss of job opportunities as a result of keeping his passport illegally. The Civil Court ordered the company to pay him Dh50,000 in indemnity, arguing that the complainant had been forfeited his right morally as he was deprived of seeing his ill father, as the company detained his passport, barring him from his right to travel.

news@khaleejtimes.com

(This report is published in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department)