Claming unpaid salary

A reader in Dubai asks: I have been working at an establishment for more than two years. Two months ago, the employer sold the establishment. Since then I have not received my salary. When I claimed my late salaries from the new owner of the establishment, he told me that he agreed with the previous owner that he would not be obliged to pay any late salaries to anyone, except for late salaries incurred from the purchase date of the establishment. He said that I should claim my unpaid salaries from the previous owner of the business but the latter has refused to make such payment. Who is liable at law to pay my late salaries, the previous employer or the new one?

The Article No 126 of the Federal Labour Law No 8 of 1980 states the following: “Where a change occurs in the form or legal status of the establishment, contracts of employment that are valid at the time of the change shall remain in force between the new employer and the workers of the establishment, and their service shall be deemed to be continuous. Both the original employer and the new employer shall be jointly liable for a period of six months for the discharge of any obligations resulting from contracts of employment during the period preceding the change; after the expiry of this period the new employer shall solely bear liability.”