Q: My employment was terminated with a proper 30-day notice by the company. I have worked 3 years 7 months and 10 days. I took 8 days per year annual leave instead of 30. Now that I am leaving, I wish to be reimbursed the unused leave. How many days unused leave can I claim according to the law? 

Q: I am aware that under the federal law no.8 of 1980, you can claim for normal wage+ allowance in lieu of leave if you work during your annual leave and it is not carried forward to the next year. However, I would like to know what the success rate of this claim is, in person, if I contest it in the Dubai Courts.

Q: I have been working for 1 year & 8 months on an unlimited contract basis. I have been made terminated from service (due to low business). I have used only 21 days of leave so far from the 1st year & could not use the rest as the management did not approve the same. When the annual leave is availed, the company pays the employees the basic + allowances in full as per normal salary. But the company policy is silent when it comes to payment of unused leave in the circumstance of termination. They have advised that only basic wage will be paid for unused leave & only for the 2nd year (as the company has no carryover policy). Could you kindly advise what is the correct method of calculation? As per the UAE labour law, in some cases it is mentioned that you can encash up to 2 years leave calculated on basis of basic salary + allowances are to be paid for the unused leave in case of termination. Kind regards, M.

Q: Hi. Good day, One of our employees filed for annual leave last October 30, 2018, although he still had not completed 1 year in service. However, due to lack of manpower, we granted 10 days leave only and we paid 20 days for his leave salary. Now, he is saying that he is eligible to take that 20 days' leave but without pay. If the company will not grant, the company needs to pay him an additional 20 days salary. Our company will not grant that leave as he has accrued leave days in his 2nd year. Please advise if it's lawful to pay him?

Q: Dear Sir, My contract is a fulltime employee for a company in the UAE, and my leave entitlement state 10 weeks work and 2 weeks off. However, due to the COVID-19, I have been unable to take that leave and have accrued two months leave or 61 days with four flight tickets. My question is, can my company legally cancel those accrued days at the start of the new year or would they have to pay me for those days?

Q: Article 78 of the UAE Labour Law states: "The employee shall receive his basic pay in addition to housing allowance, if any, for the annual leave days. However, if the exigencies of work necessitate that the employee works during his annual leave in whole or in part, and the period of leave during which he has worked has not been carried forward to the next year, the employer ought to pay him his wage in addition to cash in lieu of leave for his working days based on his basic pay." Are there specific criteria needed for exigency to be established? E.g. in a professional service industry, will exigency only be established by the principal directly asking the employee to do that work during annual leave? Or will exigency be established by an official deadline regardless of explicit instructions by the principal to do the work? In the above scenario, the employee is the only person that may attend to the work and missing the official deadline will negatively affect the end client.

Q: Hi, Good day. I just want to ask, the employee has more than 30 days of annual leave balance. But the employer is saying that the employee cannot take more than 30 calendar days of leave. Is it possible, what article it is mentioned in UAE labour law? Please advise. Thanks & Regards, J.

The UAE has adopted a major reform in its legislative system that brought about 40 new laws and amendments to the company law, criminal law, personal status, among others. The amendments aim to develop the legislative structure in various sectors, the labor law being one of these, was the most recent. We try in this article to shed light on the changes introduced with the new labor law and their significance on both, the employer and employee.

The provisions of this Law, known as "UAE Labour Law", govern the relationship between employers and employees and other labour matters in the United Arab Emirates. There are special labour related regulations applicable in some of the free zones in the UAE.

This Decree sets the rules and conditions for the termination of fixed-term (limited) or unlimited (not term-bound) employment contract between employer and worker in the United Arab Emirates.

The provisions of this Decree-Law, known as "New UAE Labor Law", govern labour relations in the private sector of the United Arab Emirates. The New Labor Law repeals the previous UAE Labor Law (Federal Law No. (8) of 1980).