KUWAIT Law and Practice Contributed by: Sam Habbas, Luis Cunha, Hisham Al-Quraan and Mustafa Sayed, ASAR – Al Ruwayeh & Partners
• has assaulted one of their colleagues, the employer or their deputy during work or for a work-related reason; • breached or failed to abide by any of the obligations imposed on them by contract or under the Labour Law; or • is found to have repeatedly violated the instructions of the employer. Employees also have the right to terminate their employment contracts without notification and shall be entitled to their end-of-service benefits if: • the employer does not abide by the terms of the contract or the provisions of the law; • the employee was assaulted by either the employer or their deputy; • continuing work will endanger their safety and health pursuant to the decision of the medi - cal arbitration committee at the Ministry of Health; • the employer or their deputy committed an act of cheating or fraud with regard to work conditions upon signing the contract; • the employer accused the worker of com - mitting a punishable act and the final verdict acquitted the worker; or • the employer or their deputy commits an act against the employee that violates public morals (Article 48). If the term of the work contract is not specified (ie, an indefinite-term contract), both parties have the right to terminate by providing three months’ prior notice of termination (assuming the employee is paid on a monthly basis – this notice period is one month for contractors paid on another basis (Article 44)). In relation to fixed- term contracts, Article 47 of the Labour Law provides that, where the contract is unlawfully terminated prior to the expiry date, the terminat -
ing party shall compensate the other party for damages suffered, provided that the amount of compensation does not exceed the remunera - tion of the worker for the remaining period of the contract. The damage suffered is typically determined in light of trade custom, the nature of the work and the unexpired portion of the con - tract. All amounts due to the other party may be deducted from the value of the compensation. Except in limited instances (eg, termination under Article 41 (a) of the Labour Law), employees are generally entitled to certain end-of-service benefits following the conclusion of the relevant employment relationship. In this regard, accord - ing to Article 51 of the Labour Law, employees paid on a monthly basis are entitled to 15 days’ salary for each of their first five years of service and 30 days’ salary for each subsequent year. Other employees (eg, employees paid on a com - mission basis or an hourly, daily or weekly basis, etc) are entitled to ten days’ salary for their first five years of service with the employer and 15 days’ salary for each subsequent year. The total end-of-service indemnity is based on the latest monthly salary (including all regular, customary and ordinary payments made to the employee, such as regular benefits, allowances and grants) and should not exceed one and a half years’ salary. Other factors that affect the calculation of the end-of-service benefits include whether the employee was on a fixed-term contract, the term of employment and whether the employee resigned. 4.5 Employee Representations Articles 98 to 132 of the Labour Law address employees’ rights to organise/form unions, col - lective employment contracts and collective labour conflicts. Such issues are rarely encoun - tered in practice unless an employment field is
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