Wage & commission disputes. Whether a bonus, commission, or profit-share is treated as part of the wage — and therefore protected, provable, and owed — usually comes down to three things: is it written into the contract or a formal policy; has it been paid consistently enough to become an expected part of pay even if not formally documented; and is there a clear objective trigger for when it's earned (a signed deal, an invoice, a year-end approval) or is it left to informal, undocumented discretion.
Recurring theme. Where a contract's pay structure combines a nominal fixed amount with a substantial variable element (e.g. a percentage of sales), courts have accepted that the variable element formed the worker's real agreed remuneration and can be used in calculating gratuity and unused-leave entitlements. The written contract, salary certificate, and how the person was actually paid together decide the character of variable pay — labels like "discretionary bonus" don't automatically make it so if the practice shows otherwise.
Leave, gratuity & final settlement. Leave-balance disputes are usually decided by whoever has better records — an approved leave ledger with dates beats a verbal claim every time. Gratuity calculations default to the employee's basic wage unless a genuinely more generous scheme is clearly documented in writing — a foreign pension plan or benefit scheme doesn't automatically replace or reduce the statutory gratuity entitlement unless it's drafted to do so explicitly. Experience certificates and return-ticket entitlements remain some of the most frequently disputed items — often because they're treated as an afterthought at exit rather than a standard part of the offboarding checklist.
Termination, resignation & notice. A no-notice dismissal without a documented investigation is vulnerable, no matter how justified the underlying reason feels. Notice-period pay disputes often turn on a simple factual question: was the employee actually allowed to work their notice period, or did the employer's own conduct prevent it? Resignation facts need to be clearly evidenced — the date, whether it was accepted, handover completion, and return of company property. Ambiguity here tends to become the whole dispute.
Proving the employment relationship itself. Sometimes the dispute isn't about what happened — it's about whether an employment relationship existed at all (versus a partnership, an agency arrangement, or an independent contractor role). This is usually resolved by looking at:
- Payroll and WPS records — was this person paid like an employee?
- Day-to-day control — who directed the work, set the hours, supervised performance?
- Consistency — a person can hold different roles over time, but each one needs its own separate evidence.
Non-compete & confidentiality claims. Courts consistently expect two things before enforcing a restriction or awarding damages: a legitimate, narrowly defined interest — clear time, place, and scope limits; and actual, provable damage — not speculation, a lost opportunity, or a general sense that a former employee "must" be competing unfairly. If you can't point to a specific client lost or deal diverted with evidence, a damages claim is unlikely to succeed.
- Recurring theme — proof of damage. Whether framed in contract or tort, compensation for a confidentiality or non-compete breach requires proved fault, actual direct damage, and a causal connection. Breach itself is not a substitute for proof of damage.
- Recurring theme — dealing with a competitor is not enough. The employer must connect specific post-employment conduct to actual measurable damage — a lost account, a diverted deal — not a general assertion of competition.
- Recurring theme — unsigned amendments. An unsigned non-compete or NDA amendment cannot be enforced retroactively. Training-cost recovery from a departing employee requires proof of specialised training costs exceeding the mandatory baseline the employer must provide to enable the role — general onboarding costs are not recoverable.
Procedure can decide a case before the merits do. Missing the MOHRE complaint / referral step, or filing outside the applicable time limit, can end a claim regardless of how strong it is on the facts. Jurisdiction matters — the same underlying facts can end up outside labour-law jurisdiction entirely if the pleaded relationship is really commercial, board-level, or partnership in nature. Claim value can determine which forum even has authority to hear the case.
Workplace safety exposure. Serious workplace injuries create the widest and most severe exposure of any dispute category — often reaching beyond the direct employer to subcontractors, equipment custodians, and insurers. The recurring lesson: documented risk assessments, training records, and incident-reporting discipline are what separates a defensible safety record from an indefensible one, well before any injury occurs.