A BAHRAINI woman, who owns a kindergarten and wrongfully terminated one of her employee’s contract, has been ordered to pay almost BD3,000 as compensation to the employee, the Cassation Court has ruled.
The employee, also a Bahraini woman, submitted a report to the relevant authorities in February last year, before submitting an amended list of demands later that same month.
She demanded the defendant pay withheld wages for a five-month period during 2022, compensation for late wages for two days from January last year, a notice allowance, and her attorney’s fees (BD200).
She also wanted her former employer to issue an end-of-service certificate.
The plaintiff was employed at the kindergarten as a human and financial resources officer in February 2022, before being abruptly let go at the end of January last year.
The defendant and plaintiff could not come to an agreement in front of a labour judge due to the defendant refusing to attend, prompting the case to be referred to the High Labour Court.
The first session was held in April last year.
According to lawyers Zaheda Ahmed and Mariam Al Shaikh, the employee joined the defendant’s kindergarten in Buri for one year in 2022 with a fixed salary of BD450, until she was terminated in January 2023 without a legitimate reason.
They stated that she was not given a notice period nor was she given any compensation.
They also presented a copy of the employment contract which clearly states that she was to be employed for one year and paid BD450 a month.
They also submitted a warning letter from the employer from January 2023 for ‘non-compliance with working hours’, although the document was not signed by the plaintiff, in addition to a document notifying termination of services due to ‘lack of discipline’.
Additionally, they stated that the plaintiff had her wages withheld from her from February to June in 2022, submitting a bank statement as proof.
The defendant was unable to provide any witnesses or evidence to back her claim, causing the court to conclude that the termination was indeed wrongful, and ruled in the plaintiff’s favour.
In May 2023, it was ruled that employees have the right to compensation in case of termination, unless it was for a legitimate reason. It is also up to the employer to prove the legitimacy of the reasoning and justify the termination.
The court ordered the defendant to pay BD2,045 in withheld wages, BD450 as compensation for wrongful termination and a further BD450 as notice allowance.
The defendant, however, lodged an appeal but the sentence was upheld towards the end of last year. She then lodged a final appeal with the Cassation Court.
On Wednesday, the court upheld the sentence, stating that “not only was the work relationship proven, the former employee was also keen to continue prior to her dismissal”.
Pointing out that the defendant was unable to prove that the dismissal was justified, the court ruled that the employer must now compensate the former employee as stated by the High Civil Court.
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