Workers Cannot Be Sent on Unpaid Leave Unilaterally

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The question has taken on added weight in Bahrain after the recent Iranian attacks on the kingdom and the strain they have placed on public life. Against that backdrop, Al Mawali said a worker’s wage is a fixed right in return for work and cannot be changed except under clear legal rules. She pointed to labour law provisions, including Articles 41 and 43, which bar any change in the pay system, monthly, weekly or by piece rate, unless the worker agrees in writing.

‘The wage is a fixed right of the worker in return for work,’ she said. ‘It cannot be reduced or changed except within clear legal limits.’

She said a worker who turns up ready to work must still receive full pay if the employer does not let them work. If work stops for reasons outside the employer’s control, such as a government order, a disaster or a forced halt to business activity, the worker can in that case be due half pay.

‘Half salary is lawful in one main case only,’ she said. ‘That is when the worker attends work but cannot carry it out because of reasons beyond the employer’s control.’

Al Mawali said the law strikes a fair balance in that situation. The worker has done nothing wrong, while the employer did not cause the stoppage, so half the wage can be due.

That does not apply, she said, if the worker is still working. ‘If the worker carries on working, paying half the salary is against the law,’ Al Mawali said. ‘In that case, the worker can claim the full wage and seek compensation for delay.’

On unpaid leave, she said an employer cannot force it on a worker. Any move to place a worker on unpaid leave, or to cut pay for a period, must come through agreement between both sides.

Al Mawali said hard times often put both employer and worker under pressure, with firms trying to cut costs while workers rely fully on their wages. Even so, she said the soundest course is not to impose half pay, but to reach a clear agreement on a temporary measure, such as a pay cut with the worker’s written consent, or paid or unpaid leave by mutual agreement.

‘In times of crisis, the employment relationship should not be run through one-sided decisions, but through dialogue and openness,’ she said. ‘A clear agreement between both sides is the best way to keep work going without harming rights and to avoid disputes whose cost can outgrow the crisis itself.’