Legal View: Deceased employee’s family will get end-of-service dues

I work in the Human Resources Department of a contracting firm in the UAE. The general practice among companies in the UAE is to have a beneficiary form to be filled by each employee when he joins the organisation. This lists out the persons who will be paid the end-of-service dues in the event of the death of the employee while in service. The employee is also given the option to submit an amended form if and when the status of his beneficiaries changes. (Sometimes this may not be done by an oversight).

I would like to know if it is legally acceptable to pay the end-of-service dues to the persons nominated in the Beneficiaries Form and will this stand in the court of law if any objection is raised by another person or persons who may stake a claim to the entire dues or part of the dues by virtue of producing some evidence of being a legal heir of the deceased employee.

It is the sole discretion of an employer to obtain the beneficiary form from an employee at the time of commencement of employment or at any later date. In the event the employer obtains such a beneficiary form from an employee, the employer may advise the employee to adhere to the conditions laid down in Article 149 of Federal Law No. 8 of 1980 (Labour Law) which states, “Where a worker dies as a result of an employment accident or an occupational disease, the members of his family shall be entitled to compensation equal to his basic remuneration for 24 months: Provided that the amount of compensation shall not be less than 18,000 or more than 35,000 dirhams. The amount of compensation shall be calculated on the basis of the last remuneration received by the worker before this death. The compensation shall be distributed among the deceased worker’s dependants in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 3 attached to this Law.

For the purposes of the provisions of this article, the expression “deceased worker’s family” means such of the following persons as were wholly or principally dependent for their subsistence on the deceased worker’s income at the time of his death:

(a) the widow or widower;

(b) the children, namely –

1. 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 mentally or physically incapacitated for earning a living. The term “sons” includes the sons of the husband or of the wife who were in the deceased worker’s care at the time of his death;

2. unmarried daughters, which term includes unmarried daughters of the husband or of the wife who were in the deceased worker’s care at the time of his death;

(c) the parents;

(d) the brothers and sisters, subject to the conditions prescribed for sons and daughters.”

An employer shall apply the above provisions when it comes to payment of the end-of-service benefits to the legal heirs of the deceased employee. However, in case the employee has executed a Will or a letter of wishes separately for his or her movable and immovable properties in the UAE in favour of one or more persons upon his or her death, the beneficiaries mentioned in the said Will or the letter of wishes shall have the right to claim the end-of-service benefits from the employer, subject to compliance of all legal procedures including obtaining a succession certificate.

12-month notice period must for evicting tenant

I reside in Deira, Dubai, and recently saw a notice stuck on my house door by the Dubai Courts in Arabic. It said we need to vacate the property before June end next year, because that is when the rent agreement has to be renewed.

I have three questions:

1) Is there any proof that we have received and read the notice; shouldn’t it have been sent by a registered mail?

2) Shouldn’t there have been a 12-month notice period?

3) If 12 months’ notice time is required, which means till the end of June 2015 in our case, should we pay the rent for the next six months, i.e. June-December 2015?

We understand that you reside on rented premises at Deira, Dubai and we further note that the Dubai Courts bailiff has posted a notice on your house door which states you are required to vacate the premises on the expiry of the rent contract which ends in June 2015.

A court bailiff may serve a notice upon you by delivering it personally to you or pasting it on the door of your house or by newspaper publication. However, such notice should be served in accordance with the provisions of Law No. 26 of 2007 Regulating Relationship Between Landlords & Tenants in the Emirate of Dubai (as amended by Law No. 33 of 2008) the “Tenancy Law”.

The provision as such is described under clause 2 of Article 25 of the Tenancy Law which states as follows:

“Landlord may demand eviction of tenant upon expiry of tenancy contract limited to the following cases:

a. If the owner wishes to demolish the property for reconstruction or to add new constructions that prevent tenant from benefiting from the leased property, provided that necessary licences are obtained;

b. If the property requires renovation or comprehensive maintenance which cannot be executed while tenant is occupying the property, provided that a technical report issued by Dubai Municipality or accredited by it is to be submitted to this effect;

c. If the owner of the property wishes to recover the property for use by him personally or by his next of kin of first degree provided that he proves that he does not own a suitable alternative property for that purpose;

d. If the owner of the property wishes to sell the leased property;

And for the purposes of clause (2) of this Article, the landlord must notify the tenant with reasons for eviction at least 12 months prior to the determined date of eviction and that such a notice be sent through the Notary Public or by registered mail.”

In view of these, it may be advised that the owner of your rented house may evict you provided the owner serves a notice one year before the anticipated date of eviction. Thus, you may continue to reside in your house for a further period of one year starting from the date the owner of your house serves a notice to you.

Ashish Mehta, LLB, F.I.C.A., M.C.I.T., M.C.I.Arb., is the founder andManaging Partner of Ashish Mehta & Associates. He is qualified to practise law in Dubai, the United Kingdom, Singapore and India. He manages a multi-jurisdictional law firm practice, providing analysis and counselling on complex legal documents, and policies including but not limited to corporate matters, commercial transactions, banking and finance, property and construction, real estates acquisitions, mergers and acquisitions, financial restructuring, arbitration and mediation, family matters, general crime and litigation issues. Visit www.amalawyers.com for further information. Readers may e-mail their questions to: news@khaleejtimes.com or send them to Legal View, Khaleej Times, PO Box 11243, Dubai.