First of all, I would like to thank you and also praise you for your tireless efforts for providing important information and answering questions on the legal issues in Kuwait.

One of my friend has been working in a private company in Kuwait since 2008.

Almost every year he goes on annual leave and returns back on time and has never asked for extension during leave since the time he joined the company.

This time things took a slightly different turn… He had 27 days of annual leave balance and company management approved his leave without any objection. He went on vacation and due to some serious family issues he was not able to resume his duty on time since he had to stay almost 10 extra days in his country.

Upon asking for extension of 10 days without pay, his request for extension was rejected by company management. Even his request for extension was rejected although he needed take these 10 extra days due to a family issue.

As per Kuwait Labor Law what are the possibilities to tackle this situation and what kind of legal action company can take against him and how many days he can stay more in his country even if his request for extension is not approved.

Name withheld Answer: According to the Kuwait Labor Law, if you are absent from work for seven consecutive days or 20 non-consecutive days without an “acceptable” reason in a single year you can be terminated from work. Barring an emergency, for which you need to provide proof, not returning from leave in time – especially after any request for extension in leave has been rejected – is reason enough to legally dismiss you. But in such a case your dismissal must be treated as a resignation with all your benefits, mentioned in Article 53, to be given to you.

This means you will also have a three month notice period and be paid for the same. This is the extreme measure that the company can take although it could – if it so desires – just deduct pay for the days of absence or even fine you a certain amount.

If a person is denied extension of leave, he has to report back for work on expiry of his leave otherwise he will be deemed to be “absent” from work, even if this absence is for one day.