Strict timeline

TDT | Manama

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Workers who believe they were unfairly dismissed have little time to act, with Bahrain’s Labour Law giving them 30 days from the end of the contract to seek compensation, lawyer Jassim Al Issa said.

Speaking to The Daily Tribune, Al Issa said the point had taken on new weight after the recent attacks, when some firms let staff go on the grounds of cutting costs or cutting staff needs while work was being done from home.

“Some companies dismissed workers to cut financial strain, and others said they no longer needed staff because work was being done remotely,” he said.

“That made it necessary for us, as lawyers, to make clear to workers dismissed without lawful cause that they can ask for compensation for unlawful termination.”

He said that right does not stay open for long.

Right

Under Article 135 of the Labour Law, a worker loses the right to claim compensation for unlawful dismissal if 30 days pass from the date of dismissal or the end of the contract without a case being filed.

There is one route that stops that time limit.

Al Issa said that if both sides agree to refer the dispute to the Individual Labour Disputes Settlement Authority within those 30 days, the worker can then bring the case within three months from the end of the authority’s proceedings.

Compensation

“The worker must be careful to file the claim for compensation for unlawful termination within 30 days from the date the contract ends,” he said. “If the dispute is referred to the authority, then the claim must be brought within three months from the end of the proceedings before it.”

He also said an employer cannot wait until late in the case to raise every defence.

The plea that the worker’s right to compensation has lapsed through time is not treated as a matter of public order, he said, so the employer must raise it during the labour case management stage.

PleaThat plea cannot be raised for the first time after the case management stage before the High Labour Court has ended, he said, citing Article 132 of Labour Law No. 36 of 2012 for the private sector.

“Neither side in a labour case may submit new requests, or raise a plea or defence not already raised before the case management judge, unless it relates to public order,” Al Issa said.

His remarks come as dismissed workers seek clear answers on how long they have to challenge an unlawful end to their employment.