Why Delay To Lose Your Money And Labor Case?

Posted by khalidkhanservices on February 24th, 2020

How many of you are aware of the law of limitation as per Bahrain Labor Law? How many of you are aware that in law for certain kinds of cases there is a time frame? I will settle this down with three examples:

a. If the law says that an appeal must be filed within 45 days after the passing of the judgment, then an appeal may not be entertained by the judge after 45 days and out rightly rejected. This is not a universal rule and many countries the delay is condoned by an application called condonation of delay application.

b. A labor case cannot be filed in Bahrain courts after the expiry of one year of the labor contract. This is also an example of limitation and its clearly laid down in the Bahrain Labor Law.

c. Employee's claim for compensation on account of termination without a cause will not be heard if it's filed after 30 days of the termination of the contract. This is also an example of limitation and is clearly laid down in the Bahrain Labor Law.

The reason it is very important to understand the duration for filing a labor case in Bahrain on termination of labor contract is because many people are assured their dues will be paid but after one year they are told we will not give you anything. I am sure everyone understands why. The answer is because after waiting for one year you have lost your right to initiate labor claim against the employer.

In Bahrain the issues related to employment are governed by the Bahrain Labor Law which is the Law No. 36 of 2012 (Labor Law – Private Sector). Article 135 of the Bahrain Labor Law bars the filing of labor claims related to compensation after one month of the expiry of the labor contract while Article 136 of the labor law bars the filing of claim for labor rights after one year of the expiry of the labor contract.

1. For Compensation Cases

Here you need to understand one thing to determine when you are barred by the time. If your company terminates you without any reason and refuse to pay you salary etc. Then you must file the case within one month of the expiry of the labor contract. Well, let’s say due to some reasons you could not do that then have you lost all your rights? The answer is no, you have not lost all your rights, but just the right to claim compensation.

2. For Labor Rights

Now take a look at from another point of view. Your labor contract expires, and your company told you we will pay your outstanding salary, leave salary, indemnity etc. within one month, but it keeps on going and going and more than one year passed. Now in this scenario you lost the right totally because you failed to file the labor claim within one year as provided in Article 136 of the Bahrain Labor Law.

3. Conclusion

Therefore, in case you are terminated without cause then without wasting time file labor claim within one month (1 month) and if your contract has expired but dues are unpaid then maximum time for you is one year (1 year) but still try to file the labor case as soon as possible while the company is still in operation and have funds.