Employment claims and agency
Power of Attorney for a Labour Case in the UAE
A power of attorney for a labour case usually has to reach four separate acts at once, not one. Pleading lets your agent argue the claim, while settlement, acknowledgment and arbitration decide whether your agent can end it.
- Four acts named
- Settlement power not forgotten
- Arabic drafting and translation
Why one named act is rarely enough
A power of attorney for a labour case has to be a special agency, and it usually needs to name four of the acts Article 870(1) singles out: pleading, settlement, acknowledgment and arbitration. Naming pleading alone gives your agent the authority to argue the claim and none to conclude it.
Governing article
Article 870(1), Federal Decree-Law 25/2025
Acts usually named
Pleading, settlement, acknowledgment, arbitration
Who ratifies it
A notary public
Four named acts, not one
Agency sits in Federal Decree-Law 25/2025, the Civil Transactions Law, at Articles 866 to 903. Article 870(1) lists the acts that a special agency has to name one by one, and a dispute between an employee and an employer is the kind of matter that can touch four of them at the same time: pleading, settlement, acknowledgment and arbitration. Template wording tends to name the first and stop.
Federal Decree-Law 25/2025, Article 870(1)
Any act that is not an act of management and preservation requires a special agency specifying the type of act and the dispositions it entails, particularly in donations, sale, settlement, mortgage, acknowledgment, arbitration, administering and accepting an oath, and pleading before the court.
What a power of attorney for a labour case does
It is an instrument in which you, the principal, appoint an agent to act for you. Article 866 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 defines agency as a contract between the principal and the agent. We provide notary services and document drafting. We do not act as your law firm in the case itself. Our lawyers and legal consultants draft the instrument, translate it and check the named acts against the law. A notary public ratifies it.
Article 871(1) provides that an agency expressed in general terms, without specifying what is intended, grants only the power to perform acts of management. So a broad instrument does not quietly pick up the power to plead or to settle. Every act outside management and preservation has to be written in, and the instrument has to specify the type of act and the dispositions it entails.
Lines the instrument has to carry
Article 870(1) does not hand over a general permission to run a dispute. It requires a special agency specifying the type of act and the dispositions it entails, so each line below has to appear in the instrument in its own right.
- Pleading before the court, stated in those words
- Settlement, with the dispositions it entails set out
- Acknowledgment, written on a line of its own
- Arbitration, where a contract points the matter there
- Administering and accepting an oath, if it may arise
- Whether a sub agency is permitted, under Article 903
Authority to argue, authority to end
Article 870(1) treats pleading and settlement as separate acts, each needing to be named. An instrument that names only pleading leaves your agent able to argue the claim and unable to end it, and that gap tends to surface at the least convenient moment.
Arguing the claim
Pleading before the court
Pleading is the act Article 870(1) names for arguing before the court. Name it and your agent can run the argument. Name only it and the matter stops there.
Ending the claim
Settlement, acknowledgment and arbitration
These three end a claim rather than argue it. Article 870(1) lists each separately, so an instrument that names pleading alone leaves your agent able to argue and unable to conclude.
From your instructions to the notary appointment
Four stages, and one decision most people leave out. Article 903 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 deals with sub agency, where your agent appoints someone else to act under the same authority, so the instrument should say plainly whether you permit one.
1
You send us the acts
Tell us the parties, the subject of the dispute and each act the instrument has to carry. We check that list against Article 870(1) before anything is drafted.
2
We draft it in Arabic
Under Article 5 of Federal Decree-Law 20/2022 the notary’s instrument is in Arabic. Dubai Law 4/2013 requires a foreign language version to carry a certified translation, with both versions signed.
3
You attend the appointment
Article 7 of Federal Decree-Law 20/2022 requires the notary to verify identity, capacity and consent, and to read out the content of the transaction and reveal its effects to the parties.
4
A notary public ratifies it
Ratification is before a notary public. Under the federal schedule a power of attorney is AED 100 per party, and a private notary adds 30 per cent, so AED 130.
Information we need before drafting
Three sets of inputs. On fees, Cabinet Resolution 19/2024 sets AED 100 per party for executing or notarising a general or special power of attorney and AED 50 for each page of a translation included in the instrument, but that schedule is federal. Notaries public in Dubai sit under Dubai Law 4/2013 and Dubai Courts publishes its own fees, so confirm current figures with the office you use.
From you, the employee
Identity and capacity are checked
- Emirates ID or passport
- Your name exactly as it appears there
- The term you want written into it
- Contact details for the appointment
About the agent you appoint
So the instrument names the right person
- Full name as it appears on identification
- Emirates ID number, or a passport copy
- Whether a sub agency is permitted
- Whether the agent may agree a figure
About the dispute itself
This is what shapes the named acts
- Who the claim is between
- Each act the instrument has to name
- What an acknowledgment might cover
- Whether an arbitration clause applies
Two lists to check a draft against
The first list is what a workable instrument does, the second is what we find in drafts copied from a template. Article 898 lets the principal revoke or restrict the agent’s authority at any time, unless the agency involves a right of a third party or was issued in the interest of the agent, so whose interest the instrument serves is worth reading before anyone signs.
- Names pleading, settlement, acknowledgment and arbitration separately
- Says what each named act allows your agent to sign
- States a term, because no statute supplies one
- General terms only, which Article 871 keeps to acts of management
- Pleading named and settlement quietly left out
- Article 955 quoted, from the repealed 1985 Civil Code
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often on this one.
Does naming pleading also let my agent settle?
No. Article 870(1) of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 lists pleading before the court and settlement as separate acts, each requiring a special agency that specifies the type of act and the dispositions it entails. An instrument that names pleading and stops leaves your agent able to argue the claim and without authority to conclude it.
What does acknowledgment cover in Article 870(1)?
Acknowledgment is one of the acts Article 870(1) names as needing a special agency, alongside donations, sale, settlement, mortgage, arbitration, administering and accepting an oath, and pleading before the court. An agent who holds that authority acknowledges in your name, so it is worth deciding whether to grant it before the instrument is drafted.
What if the contract points the matter to arbitration?
Arbitration is named in Article 870(1) as an act requiring a special agency in its own right, separately from pleading before the court. If arbitration is a possibility in your matter, the instrument should name it, because authority to plead does not carry authority to arbitrate. Tell us at the drafting stage and it goes in.
Can a different person appear in place of my agent?
That is a sub agency, and Article 903 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 is the provision that deals with it. The instrument should say plainly whether you permit one, because the person who actually appears may not be the person you named. Article 903(2) adds that revoking the principal agency revokes all sub agencies derived from it by virtue of law.
Can I withdraw the authority after the claim has begun?
Article 898 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 says the principal may revoke or restrict the agent’s authority at any time, subject to the exceptions in that article. Article 899 adds that revoking at an inappropriate time, or without acceptable justification, obliges the principal to compensate the agent for damage suffered. Both are worth reading before you act.
Is there a case where I cannot take it back?
Yes. Article 898 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 provides that where the agency involves a right of a third party, or was issued in the interest of the agent, the principal may not terminate or restrict it without the consent of the person in whose interest it was issued. So whose interest the instrument serves is not a detail.
Which official fees are published for this document?
Cabinet Resolution 19/2024 sets AED 100 per party for executing or notarising a general or special power of attorney, and AED 50 for each page of a translation included in the instrument. A private notary charges the same fee plus 30 per cent, so AED 130. That schedule is federal. Notaries public in Dubai sit under Dubai Law 4/2013, and Dubai Courts publishes its own fees.
The instrument will be signed outside the UAE. What then?
The UAE is not a party to the Apostille Convention, so an apostille is not the route in. MOFAIC sets out attestation by the foreign ministry of the issuing country, then the UAE embassy or consulate there, then MOFAIC in the UAE. Its published attestation fee is AED 150 for individual affairs documents and AED 2,000 for commercial ones.
Start here
Tell us which acts have to be named
Send us the names of the parties, the subject of the dispute, each act you want named and the term you want written in. Our lawyers and legal consultants draft the instrument in Arabic, provide the certified translation and check every named act against Article 870(1). We draft the instrument and provide the notary services around it. We do not conduct the case for you. A notary public ratifies it.
Tell us what the document has to do
Say who will receive it and what you need it to allow, and you will get a straight answer on the wording, the government fees and what to bring. You can also send it through the contact form.
Call us
Speak to the person who will handle your file and get an answer on the same call.
Send photographs of your passport, your Emirates ID and anything the matter attaches to.
Best for a company matter, or anything that runs to several documents.
Visit the office
Jebel Ali area, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai. Come in, or have it handled remotely and only turn up to sign.
Opening hours. Monday to Thursday, 9:00 to 18:00. Friday, 9:00 to 12:00. Saturday, 9:00 to 18:00. Sunday, closed.