Court Orders Company to Pay Unfairly Dismissed Employee 2,808 Dinars

TDT | Manama     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The Court of Cassation, Bahrain's highest court, has upheld a lower court ruling ordering a company to pay a Bahraini employee 2,808 dinars in compensation for wrongful dismissal, according to lawyer Fatima Khalaf. Khalaf stated that her client was hired under a fixed-term contract as a sales promoter with a monthly salary of 300 dinars.

The employment relationship ended after four months and nine days when the company terminated the contract without a valid reason or prior notice. The company also failed to pay the remaining dues owed to the employee under the employment contract, prompting him to file a lawsuit.

The court, in its ruling, noted that the company had notified the employee of his performance shortcomings, with the last notification being the first warning letter regarding his low efficiency.

However, the court found that the company should have granted the employee a reasonable period of at least 60 days to improve, which was not done in this case. The company terminated the contract after only six days.

Furthermore, the court found that the company had not complied with the provisions of Article 109 of the Labour Law, rendering the employee's dismissal unlawful. As a result, the employee was entitled to compensation equivalent to the remaining period of the contract, amounting to 2,400 dinars.

The court rejected the company's argument that the employee's failure to achieve sales targets was a reason for dismissal. The court noted that the termination letter did not cite this as a reason and that even if it had, the issue of failing to meet sales targets would still fall under the purview of Article 109 of the Labour Law.

The court ultimately ruled in favour of the employee, awarding him a total compensation of 2,808 dinars for the wrongful dismissal.