If you are an employee in the UAE, you are entitled to different kinds of leaves. Most of you would consider these as a time to relax or to go back to your home country for a while. Whatever the reason, you should be aware of these privileges that the UAE Labor Law has granted to you as an expat. In this way, you would not be abused by your employer in working overtime.
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These leaves are also usually paid. Most of the employees in the private sector are entitled to this right, unless there are certain conditions indicated in the contract that prohibit them to enjoy their paid leaves. As an employee, you should also be able to clarify all of these to your employer if these are not disclosed properly before you work.
UAE Labour: List of Leave and Holidays for Employees and Workers
Here is the complete list and comprehensive guide of the official leaves and vacations that you should know:
- Weekly Day-Off
- Mandatory Leaves or Public Holidays
- Annual Leaves
- Sick Leaves
- Maternity Leaves
- Paternity Leave
- Hajj or Pilgrimage Leave
- Emergency Leave
- Ramadan Timings
Weekly Day-Off
Friday is the official leave for all expat workers in the UAE, except minimum wage earners. This means that your two-day weekend is on Fridays and Saturdays. If your employer requests you to work overtime, you must be paid with your regular working hour plus an increase of not less than 50% of that amount.
It is also stated in Article 81 of the Labor Law in the UAE that you are entitled to a 150% increase in your daily wages if you are required for another day of overtime work.
Public Holidays
According to Chapter 4 Section 2 of the UAE Labor Law, here are the following public holidays or mandatory leaves that you are entitled to as an employee. Companies that do not grant their employees with these leaves will be penalized accordingly.
- Hijri New Year’s Day – one day
- Gregorian New Year’s Day – one day
- Eid Al Fitr (end of Ramadan) – two days
- Eid Al Ada and Waqfa – three days
- Prophet Mohammed’s Birthday- one day
- Isra and Al Mi’raj – one day
- Martyr’s Day – one day
- National Day – one day
Annual Leaves
Annual leaves are determined by the company. Per Article 75 of the UAE Labor Law, you are entitled for annual leave given that you have served your company for at least one year.
If you have served the company for more than six months but less than a year, you are given two days leave for every month.
If, on the other hand, your service exceeds one year, you are entitled 30 days of leave annually. You are also given an annual leave for the fraction of the last year you spent in service at the end of your contract as an employee of the company.
Take note that the company may or may not include weekends in the annual leave. Make sure to know how your company calculates the number of leaves. Some companies mention that annual leave is 30 calendar days. This means that weekends will be included here.
If you are still on probation, you are not yet entitled to any annual leave. In such cases, this is under the discretion of the company.
You can use your annual leaves depending on the occasion that you want to use them. Expats working in the hospitality and F&B industry usually combine their 30-day leaves. They use them as an opportunity to go back to their home for vacations and to reunite with their families.
Here are also the provisions on Annual Leave based on the UAE Labor Law that you should know:
- You will still be granted your basic salary which is different from your housing allowance.
- You can work during annual leave but you must be paid with basic salary plus leave allowance.
- Your employer may determine when you will take your annual leave.
- You are entitled to compensation equivalent to your unused annual leaves.
Sick Leave
According to the Labor Law, you are entitled for sick leaves as well, given that you provide a sick leave certificate. For the first 15 days, you will be granted with full pay leaves. For the next 30 days you will be given with half pay and the next period with no pay.
Per the New DHA rule, UAE expats working in both the public and private sector must pay Dh 60 to secure a sick leave certificate to prevent abuse of the sick leave provisions, as well as to protect employers from their work day losses.
Here are the provisions for the Sick Leave as mandated by the Labor Law:
- Notify your employer within two days so they can assess whether your medical condition is valid. You will also be asked to submit a medical report afterwards.
- You are ineligible to take a sick leave if you’re still on probationary period.
- Your employer has no right to terminate you because of sick leaves. Just make sure to report for work after 90 days with notice.
- You can resign to work because of your illness before the expiration of the first 45 days of your sick leave. That is, given that the doctor recognized by your employer consents to the said cause of your resignation. You employer will pay you the amount of equivalent to the next 45 days of your sick leave.
Maternity Leave
According to Article 30 of the UAE Labor Law, you may take up to 45 days of paid leaves before and after your delivery. You are entitled to this leave if you have worked for the company for at least one year.
If not, you are granted for half pay during your maternity leave. If you have worked for the company in less than six months, you may take 100 days of leave without pay, as certified by the health authorities and certified by the hospital.
Paternity Leave
Generally, companies in the private and public sectors do not grant paternity leaves. Only some corporations provide this kind of leave. You may ask your company HR if they give paternity leaves.
Emergency Leaves
Similar to paternity leaves, most companies do not provide emergency leaves. You can take one, but the days that you’ll be allotting for this kind of leave will be deducted from your salary. It will also depend on your company HR if they will allow you with emergency leaves on a humanitarian basis.
Bereavement Leave
Companies in the UAE do not also allow bereavement leaves. You may take a day or two off to visit your departed loved one, but this will be deducted to your salary as well.
Hajj Leave and Umrah Leave
According to Article 87 of the UAE Labor Law, you are also entitled to Hajj leave and Umrah leaves.
Hajj, which literally means “heading to a place for the sake of visiting,” is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. This holy pilgrimage is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims. This tradition, which lasts for about 5 to 6 days depending on the lunar Islamic calendar, must be done at least once in their lifetime.
If you are a Muslim expat, you are granted a special leave so you can perform the Hajj pilgrimage. This is done under the following provisions:
- This type of leave is given without pay.
- This pilgrimage may not exceed 30 days.
- This leave is granted only once during the employment duration with the company.
Umrah Leave, on the other hand is also an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. You can take this type of Muslim journey at any time of the year, unlike the Ḥajj which follows the Islamic lunar calendar.
Similarly, you are not given any pay when you take your Umrah leave. It is under the discretion of your company whether they will deduct your leave in the annual leaves or consider it as an unpaid leave.
Ramadan Timings
According to Article 65 of the UAE Labor Law, working hours for both Muslims and non-Muslims are reduced by 2 hours on every working day. For example, if you are working from 8AM to 5PM, your office hours will be reduced by 2 hours.
This also applies for both indoor and outdoor work. Workers in the construction site will be granted a midday break from 12NN to 3PM. Your salary will not also be deducted during these reduced working hours.
You can also choose to work overtime with a maximum of 2 hours only. If your employer asks you to work for more than 2 hours, you have to be paid an overtime of 25% of your basic salary for a daytime work and 50% for a night duty.
If your employer violated any of these provisions, don’t hesitate to call the Ministry of Labor at 800665.
Summary
As an expat working in the UAE, you should know your right to have paid leaves. Some of these include annual leaves, weekly day-offs, maternity leaves, Hajj and Umrah leaves, and Ramadan timings. While companies do not entitle you with paid leaves like bereavement and emergency leaves, you can still ask your employer to grant you a day off for these, given that your salary will be deducted for these leaves.
Being aware of the provisions of these leaves lets you enjoy your time off from work and visit your family back home, too. By having the right knowledge of these leaves, you are empowered as an employee and can prevent you from being abused by your employer.