BD38,000 awarded to European radiologist after job dismissal

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

A private hospital has been ordered to pay a European radiology specialist close to BD38,000 after the High Labour Court found she was dismissed and left unpaid dues when the employer said the facility was closing, her lawyer Shaimaa Mohammed said.

The worker earned BD3,700 a month, made up of BD2,220 as basic pay and the rest as allowances, according to case papers cited by the lawyer.

She had worked there for five years before receiving a notice ending her service on the grounds the establishment was shutting down.

Sums

The lawyer said her client went to court after the employer failed to pay sums she claimed were owed to her.

In its reasoning, the court said a letter from the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) showed the claimant, a foreign national, held a permit to work for the defendant.

Judges said she started on a fixed-term contract that later became an open-ended one, and they treated it as such after finding the work relationship had carried on for more than five years.

The court also referred to a contract renewal submitted after two years of service, bearing a signature attributed to the employer, which the defendant did not challenge and was therefore binding. The court said the employer did not produce proof it had cleared the wages claimed, despite being required to do so, and failed to back up its claim that the worker did not do any work during the period covered by the wage demand.

It ordered the employer to pay BD22,570 in outstanding wages, forming part of the overall compensation the lawyer said came to nearly BD38,000.