Determining vacations for private sector employees in the UAE
The UAE Labor Law protects workers' and employers' rights to negotiate wages, vacations, incentives, and safe working conditions.
Private sector vacations in the UAE Labor Law
The United Arab Emirates is the third largest source of remittances in the world. This is because the UAE is home to a sizable population of expatriate employees who send money back to their family by way of their wages in the UAE. As a result, the UAE has made the safeguarding of employment one of its top national concerns.
The UAE Labor Law was updated to reflect some of the changes that were made to the provisions of the preceding Federal Law No. 8 of 1980 AD. This law has since been superseded by Federal Law No. 33 of 2021 AD, the contents of which will become effective on February 2, 2022 AD. One of the changes that was made to the law concerned vacations.
The law specifies the many types of leaves to which an employee is entitled, including:
Maternity leave in the private sector
Private sector women receive 45 days of paid maternity leave under the UAE Federal Labor Law.
If a medical certificate from the competent health authority proves a woman's illness prevents her from working, she can extend her maternity leave for up to 100 days.
If she works one year at her current job, she gets 45 days of full salary.
* 45 days of half-pay maternity leave if the lady worked less than a year.
Paternal leave:
By giving paternity leave, the UAE labor legislation not only considered the mother's human rights but also highlighted family unity and worker respect.
His Majesty Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, "may God protect him," approved the Federal Decree Law amending the Law Regulating Labor Relations, which grants private sector workers five paid "parental" days to care for their children from the child's birth to six months.
Sick leave:
The Labor Law states that after three months of continuous service following the trial work period, the employee is entitled to 90 days of sick leave every year.
