Reversal Of The Cassation Court Ruling On Commission Date And Hearing Period

In the Dubai Court of Cassation’s latest rendered judgment, the court ruled it feasible to accept a request submitted by the plaintiff – an employee – to overturn a cassation judgment for that violated established legal principles, in accordance with Article 190 of the Civil Procedure Law. This article empowers the court, under specific circumstances, to reconsider decisions issued in the court's consultation chamber or binding judgments, either at the court's discretion or in response to a request from the aggrieved party.

The overturned judgment had previously stipulated that claims for employee commissions are time-barred one year from the date of executing the work for which the commission was due. However, upon the employee's appeal for reconsideration, the Court of Cassation revised its stance, clarifying that the limitation period for any labor rights claim commences one year from the date the right becomes due, not from the date of executing the relevant work. Hence, the period of non-consideration begins when the right becomes due for payment.

Upon reviewing the case file in response to the reconsideration request, the court asserted that the calculation of the claimed commission is determined by the developer when the amount due is determined. However, disbursement is contingent upon the official completion of the transaction and the receipt of amounts due from the sale process. Subsequently, these amounts are transferred to the employing company of the claimant employee, and the agreed-upon percentage for each project is disbursed separately.

Based on this, the court decided to overturn its previous judgment, which had ruled not to entertain the claim, establishing that the employee's entitlement to the commission is based on the date of its disbursement by the developer and receipt by the employing company, according to the agreed-upon method, not as concluded by the judgment sought to be overturned, which calculated the non-entertainment period from the date of selling real estate units.

In light of these considerations, the court decided to overturn its earlier judgment, which had dismissed the claim, establishing that the employee's entitlement to the commission is contingent on the date of its disbursement by the developer and receipt by the employing company, following the agreed-upon method. This contrasts with the previously contested judgment, which calculated the non-consideration period from the date of selling real estate units.