Annual Leave, Sick Leave, Maternity Leave, Parental Leave, Bereavement Leave, and many other types of leave. It’s important to understand the different types of leave so that you, the employer, are able to give your team time off while also remaining compliant with the legislation and providing the right leave rights for your employees. In this guide, we will cover the basics, the details of each leave type, what are their advantages and disadvantages, the compliance aspect, and how you can avoid spreadsheets while managing time off.
Summary of Leave in the UAE
Time taken off work, with the employer’s approval. Certain Types of employee leave are a legal entitlement, others are a benefit provided by the employer. Employers on the UK mainland have the following basic statutory leave rights:
- Annual Leave - 30 calendar days per year after 1 year of service.
- Sick Leave – 90 days per year maximum after probation. Paid in 3 installments.
- Maternity Leave - 60 days (45 day full pay/15 day half pay).
- Parental Leave – 5 days working parental leave can be claimed by either parent within 6 months of the birth.
- Bereavement Leave - spouse 5 days and close family 3 days.
- Study Leave, Hajj Leave and Public Holidays - See below.
Unpaid Leave and Emergency Leave are not included here. Please note that these are federal requirements and free zone employees will have their own employment guidelines to adhere to (e.g. DIFC and ADGM).
1. Annual Leave in the UAE
Annual leave is the most common type of paid employee leave in the UAE. Your employee will be entitled to 30 calendar days after a complete 1 year of employment. If your employee has been working for you for 1 year the employee will earn 2 days per month after 6 months.
Calculating annual leave: Calculate the rate of annual leave by dividing the salary by 30, to get the daily rate. Then multiply by the number of days of annual leave. In many cases, half of the annual total can be carried forward if not used. Alternatively, the employee and employer can choose to make a cash payment of this. Where the employee leaves, they are paid the remaining leave calculated by their basic salary. Following the below example, an employee with a basic salary of AED9,000 would get AED300 per day, or 20 days of leave would be AED6,000. This pay would include all fixed allowances included in the employee’s contract.
Pros: Leaves everyone with certainty about holiday and downtime plans.
Cons: Creates liability if not used. Leaves the payroll team to calculate accurately.
2. Sick Leave and Medical Leave
Employees can take a maximum of 90 days sick leave in UAE after probation. Paid out in 3 tranches:
- First 15 days - Full pay.
- Next 30 days - Half pay.
- Final 45 days - Unpaid.
Medical certificate. No sick pay available during probation period. Cannot dismiss an employee while that employee has valid sick leave. A lot of employers will refer to this as medical leave. Or if they are going to attend treatment or to convalesce it is referred to as medical leave.
PROS: Provides genuine protection to the employee. They can take time off knowing they will not lose work or earnings.
CONS: Can be expensive and be open to misuse. Need to have a policy around medical certificates and notice periods. If they are off for long time you will need to cover them. Manual calculation of the 3 parts can be easily wrong.
3. Maternity Leave and Pregnancy Leave
Female employees are entitled to 60 days maternity leave (45 days full pay, 15 days half pay), with the leave commencing up to 30 days before the due date; there are no minimum service requirements. Pregnancy leave does not exist as a specific type of leave but is, in fact, just the beginning of the maternity leave entitlement. Where a woman falls ill due to her pregnancy, (subject to medical evidence) she can avail of additional unpaid leave. The mother is entitled to an additional 30 days full pay where the child has special needs. The leave to care for a child, on returning to work, would involve 2 hour paid breaks per day for 6 months while she is nursing the baby.
PROS: Mother and child are protected. Giving excellent retention if good management occurs.
CONS: Up to a lot of days away. Might be expensive for a small team. Planning cover is necessary.
4. Paternity Leave and Parental Leave
Parental leave: The 2021 law also moved paternity leave in uae into parental leave. The leave is 5 working days paid leave and can be used at any time within the 6 months after the child is born. It can be used all at once, or broken up into chunks. For mothers it will be tacked on to the 60 days maternity leave. People are still often under the misconception that this is only for fathers and some employers will still call it that.
It benefits the two parents and only costs the employer very little. Disadvantages: It is shorter than what many countries have (5 days) and some companies may offer additional parental leave as a benefit. This should be put in writing.
5. Bereavement Leave and Compassionate Leave
Staff are allowed paid leave for when a close family member dies, 5 days if your partner dies and 3 days if your parent, child, sibling, grandparent or grandchild dies. This is sometimes called compassionate leave by some employers. There is extra “compassionate leave” that employers may give, such as if you need to travel overseas for the funeral.
Pros: Funeral and family arrangements can be made without any payment worries.
Cons: For families having to travel, the statutory minimum may feel a little short. Employers should have procedures in place to check the identity of family members.
6. Unpaid Leave and Emergency Leave
Unpaid leave is when an employee needs leave for personal reasons that doesn’t come under any of the other types of leave, such as family and study leave. This has to be approved by the employer and the employee will not be paid for the time off work. This will not be considered part of the employee’s annual leave entitlement. Emergency leave isn’t a statutory type of leave in the UAE; it is decided by the employer based on their own policy. It is usually unpaid leave unless the employer decides to pay the employee. The emergency that is protected by law is the death of a relative, this is in the form of bereavement leave.
Pros: It’s flexible for all. No salary is paid
Cons: Employee will not have any earning. Policy is not well defined and may lead to fights. Having a written policy regarding emergency leave will prevent discrepancies.
7. Additional Types of Leave: Study Leave, Hajj Leave and Public Holidays
Employees with over 2 years service may be granted 10 days per year to study at an accredited institution in the UAE. Hajj leave can be granted once during employment up to 30 days. This leave is not paid, but is usually unpaid. Public holidays are a separate benefit. They are paid days that have been declared by cabinet resolution.
UAE Leave Compliance
Facing issues with leave compliance in the UAE? You’re not alone. The key to ensuring you remain compliant is understanding how to correctly apply free zone policies if applicable, keep proper records that you’ve done so and also ensure that you have the federal labour law applied to your mainland employees. This should be considered:
Understand which regulation applies to your employees
Most employees within the private sector outside of free zones are covered under federal law. However there are separate legislations for the DIFC and ADGM. Ensure you know which legislation applies to your employees.
Document Policies
Ensure your contract and company policies state clearly how much leave is provided, how much can be carried forward and encashed. This ensures everyone is on the same page.
Calculate Pay Accurately
There are many factors to consider when calculating sick leave, maternity pay and end of service payout. If this is calculated incorrectly it can cause you endless issues.
Don’t be rude to those taking genuine sick leave
Don’t be unethical and get yourself into trouble by being rude to those taking sick leave.
Keep Records
Ensure you keep detailed records of leave balances, approvals and deductions. If you can provide this information quickly it can save you a lot of issues.
Refer to the Regulator
The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation provide official guidance on leave. Make sure you keep up to date with any changes.
This means you are on the right track to avoid conflict, fines and providing a consistent employment experience. It can be an ongoing battle to keep on top of any changes and update your payroll. If you feel something isn’t right, please speak to your legal team.
Common Leave Issues in the UAE
Most issues are not actually related to legislation but process. A few common issues occur with all types of leave. For example, some employers will apply the same rules to a free zone employee when they are actually under different legislation. Some employers may also pay sick leave at a flat rate.
Did you forget to add in the 2 days per month in the first year? Or did you guess how much to pay on exit? This is a common issue. Also emergency and unpaid leave aren’t always clearly defined meaning all managers will have a different opinion.
Employees can make mistakes with leave. For example they may believe parental leave is only for fathers or take sick leave without a medical certificate. Having an well thought out policy and system will prevent almost all mistakes.
Creating a Resilient Leave Policy
A good leave policy should cover the following points for all types of leave to make it easy for managers to understand. This should include who is entitled to the leave, how much they receive, when it is accrued, what documentation is required, how to apply and who can approve. This should also include information on how much can be carried forward, encashed and how much will be paid.
Start by stating the minimum amount required by law and then add in any extra benefits your organisation provides. Keep it simple and don’t add too many categories, each additional category creates more complexity, rules and can cause conflict. Ensure you review your policy at least once a year as guidance in the UAE can change.
Leave Management without Spreadsheets
Keeping track of leave manually can become a huge task when managing various entities/locations. An HRMS will automatically enforce rules, update leave balances, route approvals and carry unpaid leave through to payroll. This is why AI powered HRMS, intelligent workforce management software and automated HR solutions are in high demand.
Voyon Folks is used in Dubai. Admins can set up different types of leave, approval processes and escalation rules. Folksy the AI assistant can help employees quickly check their leave balances and apply for leave using plain language on a mobile. Customisable bots can also be used for attendance, shift and payroll.
As with any automation, anything produced by the AI relating to pay should be reviewed by a human. Clean data is needed to produce accurate results. Would you like to see how an AI enabled HRMS can manage all types of leave and convert to attendance/payroll? Visit www.voyonfolks.com
FAQ
How many types of leave are there?
There is no single global number for types of leave, as leave types depend on national labor laws and company policies. However, under standard employment frameworks (such as statutory laws in the UAE or general HR practices), there are typically 8 to 15 core types of leave
What are all the leave types?
Employee leave types are broadly split into mandatory (protected) leave required by law and voluntary (discretionary) leave offered as employer perks.
What is sabbatical leave in the UAE?
Sabbatical leave in the UAE is an extended, planned break from work with a guaranteed job upon return, though the rules differ significantly depending on whether you are an expatriate or a UAE national
What is the UAE law for leave salary?
Under the UAE Labour Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021), leave salary rules depend on whether you are taking active leave or getting paid out for unused leave upon termination
