Terminated immediately after refusing a 65% salary cut. Now company owes me money, offered "installment plan" payouts, and is playing games with the equipment handover deadline.
Hey everyone, sorry for the long post but I’m in a highly stressful situation with my former employer here in Dubai and desperately need some guidance.
The Backstory: My employment was terminated immediately on July 1st. Before this, management asked me to sign a document cutting my salary by 65% for two months (they already cut my salary 3 months prior which I agreed upon) and waiving my annual flight ticket. I flat out refused. When I told them I wouldn't sign, they immediately issued a termination letter citing "economic reasons" (which I signed).
They sent a final settlement breakdown, but they are only offering to pay my MOHRE contract salary, completely ignoring a stamped internal agreement for a salary raise I received. They also excluded my annual leave ticket (I already had my annual leave vacation and paid for my ticket because most of the people do that in this company cause they process everything so slow so they just do reimbursements) (This ticket is also in a signed internal agreement). To top it off, they want to pay my settlement in installments over 3 months (what is this, Tabby?! 😂). I refused to sign this settlement because UAE law requires full cancellation payments within 14 days.
The Current Nightmare: The Equipment Handover My termination letter explicitly states I must return all company hardware (laptop, camera equipment, etc.) no later than July 5th (Today, Sunday).
However, they didn't inform me on who should receive it.
- Friday, July 3: I messaged my supervisor. He washed his hands of it and put me in touch with another person.
- The Power Trip: When I messaged this new person to coordinate, she got incredibly hostile. She blasted me for messaging on a July 3, Friday, and not yesterday (even though the deadline they set was Sunday). When I professionally suggested dropping it off with someone else on Saturday (our office is open Saturdays), she blew up. She literally texted me: "Who are you to dictate to me? Pay respect to me" and called me "arrogant" even though my texts were completely neutral and professional (even ended with "Best, [My Name]." hahahahaha).
- Saturday, July 4: I physically went to the office to hand it to my supervisor. He refused to handle it. I immediately sent him a WhatsApp text confirming the handover couldn't be finalized and that I was taking the gear back for safekeeping. He gave it a "like" reaction.
- Sunday, July 5 (The Deadline): I went back to the office today to return the items in good faith. The office was completely closed.
How I’ve Protected Myself So Far:
- I have screenshots of every single WhatsApp conversation.
- Sent my supervisor a WhatsApp text confirming the handover couldn't be finalized and that I was taking the gear back for safekeeping. He gave it a "like" reaction
- When I found the office closed today, I recorded a video of myself outside the closed office showing the gear, the date, and the time to prove I showed up on the deadline.