Q: Can an employer put a cap on leave accrual in the UAE, as my company put a cap of 35 days maximum? Is it legal? What is the normal cap in the UAE?

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: 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: Hi, I am an employee working here in Dubai, UAE for 10 months now. I'm planning to file a leave for 2 days, however, my colleague informed me that as per the company policy, they consider it as absent then I will get a full basic + accommodation only. So I am confused now because this was not the practice in the previous company. Appreciate it if I could get free advice on this matter.

Q: Dear Sir/Madam, Starting this year, my company decided to hide all previous annual balances of the employee from the system. When I asked HR how many leave credits I have left before this year, I was told that they can only provide me with this information if I intend to leave the organization. Is there anywhere in the UAE law stating that the staff has the right to know the exact days of annual leave she has, regardless of whether she will utilize it or not? Or is it mentioned that the company has the right to withhold this information from the employee during tenure? Currently, the system only shows the maximum 30 days allocation per year that the staff can take. Last year, the option to see everything was available. Please help. Thank you!

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.

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).