Arbitrary Dismissal in the UAE: Your Rights

Definition of Arbitrary Dismissal in UAE

Under the old 1980 labour law, courts had broad discretion to find a dismissal arbitrary whenever the stated reason was simply “irrelevant to the work,” a fairly wide standard that covered a lot of ground. The current law replaced that broad concept with something much narrower, sometimes called “illegal termination” instead. Under Article 47, compensation only applies in one specific scenario: your employer terminated you specifically because you filed a serious complaint with MOHRE, or brought a lawsuit against them that was proven valid.

That’s it. Being let go for reasons that feel unfair, vague, or poorly explained doesn’t, by itself, qualify as arbitrary dismissal under the current law, unless you can show your termination was retaliation for one of those two specific actions.

Lawful Reasons an Employer Can Terminate You For

To make the contrast clear, employers generally can lawfully end your employment for reasons including documented poor performance, genuine redundancy tied to real business needs, gross misconduct under Article 44, contract expiry, mutual agreement, or legitimate business closure. None of these, on their own, amount to arbitrary dismissal, even if the outcome feels harsh or arrives with little warning.

How Much Compensation, and How It’s Calculated

Where a termination is proven to fall within Article 47’s narrow scope, a court, not MOHRE directly, determines the compensation amount, capped at three months’ wage, calculated on your last full salary. Within that cap, the court weighs factors including the nature of your job, the extent of harm you suffered, and your length of service. There’s no fixed formula beyond the cap itself, it’s genuinely a judicial judgment call within that ceiling.

This Is Separate From Your Notice Pay and Gratuity

Article 47 compensation, where it applies, comes on top of your normal entitlements, not instead of them. You still receive your standard notice period pay (or payment in lieu), your end-of-service gratuity, and any other final settlement components regardless of whether your dismissal is found to be retaliatory. If your gratuity or final settlement is itself being withheld, that’s a separate issue from an Article 47 claim, covered in our guide on what to do if your employer won’t pay your gratuity.

How to Claim It

If you believe you were dismissed in retaliation for a MOHRE complaint or a valid legal claim, you start the same way as most labour disputes: file a complaint with MOHRE. MOHRE investigates and attempts an amicable settlement first. If that doesn’t resolve things, the case is referred to court, which has final authority to determine whether the dismissal genuinely qualifies as retaliatory under Article 47 and, if so, what compensation within the three-month cap is appropriate. Standard UAE labour claim deadlines apply, generally two years from when the claim arose, so this isn’t something to sit on indefinitely.