Boss fighting conviction in 'no wages' fight with employees

A construction boss who was slapped with a multi-million dirham fine for not paying wages to 681 labourers is appealing his conviction.
 
The Emirati on Sunday took so many boxes of documents to Abu Dhabi Appeal Court to try and prove his innocence that the judge has handed them over to a financial committee to investigate.
 
The defendant was convicted of failing to pay the workers for nine months, with salary arrears totalling more than Dhs5 million. The labourers also claim that they were not paid overtime as promised. The boss was ordered to pay the men the Dhs5 million that is owed and a further Dhs5 million as a penalty.

His lawyer, Asma Al Zaabi, told 7DAYS that the Emirati maintains he did not mistreat the workers and would prove his innocence once the committee had examined the thousands of pages of monthly wage slips, hiring contracts and termination contracts.

The men all lived in labour camps in Abu Dhabi and worked on construction projects in the city centre.

“They were all fed, they all had accommodation, there is no complaint about the living conditions, the dispute is only about the wages,” Zaabi said. The case arose after Indian and Pakistani workers made complaints to the labour office that they had not been paid in several months and had no way of heading home.

A source close to the case said that all the men demanding their pay are Asian and most are still working for the firm while they wait for what they say is owed to them.
 
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