Q: Hi, Good morning. Please advise how many annual leave days a person is eligible in UAE? Is it working or calendar days? Our company is off during Friday and Saturday and I wanted to take annual leave on Thu (Dec.20) and I will rejoin on Dec. 23 (Sunday). How many annual leave days should be deducted from me? Another scenario, if I went for annual leave from Dec. 20 (Thu) until Dec. 23 (Sun) and will rejoin on Dec. 24, how many days should be deducted from me? Thank you so much for your help.

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 sent a formal email asking for 12 days annual leave and it was approved. On my last working day before my annual leave starts, the HR guy asked for me and we sat down and he told me that I am out of balance and that I owe them 14 days. I asked him to show me the annual leave forms that I have signed, and according to what I have signed, I only took 14 days in my second year so far with this employer. My hiring date was in September 2015. He also told me that I have exceeded my balance during the first year and that I have to work until September 2017 with no right to book annual leaves. And that if I resigned or got terminated they are going to deduct those 14 days from my salary. My question is: can my employer do what he has just done, deny me my annual leave at such a short notice, and can he deduct those 14 days from my salary? Is it my fault that they are not organised? And under what circumstances can I sue my employer with regards to the above?

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, I am working in a shipping company for the last eighteen months. Now, I demand annual leave and they are saying if you want to go for holidays, hold your one month or you deposit three thousand dirhams. They are not even giving any annual leave salary. I want to know if there is any law regarding this, and what should I do next. Please guide me, I am waiting for your precious advice.

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.

س: طبقًا لقانون العمل الإماراتي، هل يحق للعامل المطالبة بالمستحقات الخاصة بالإجازة السنوية المتراكمة لأكثر من ثلاث سنوات؟

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 law On Evidence in Civil and Commercial Transactions (Law of Evidence) govern evidence in civil and commercial disputes 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).