When Employer Can Dismiss/Terminate Sickness Workers

Employer can only dismiss worker with sicknesses
In the situations/causes stated below:
- If he has not passed probation period … article (37);


- If medical tests proved that his disease has been resulted from his misbehavior, e.g. taking drugs or being alcoholics;


- If he used his all sick leave in full, which is (90) days per year of service, and there is no positive result that he can be healed, in this case worker shall receive his benefits as per provisions of the law …article (85) and will be dismissed;


- If the worker resigned from the service due to the disease complaining before the end of the first (45) days from the sick leave and the governmental doctor, or the doctor whom is assigned by the employer agreed on the reason of the resignation, in this case , the employer shall settle the remaining pay from (45) days … Article (86);


- If the worker worked during his sick leave with another employer, article (88), in this case, he will be deprived from getting his pay for the period of his sick leave;


- If the worker committed one of the contraventions provided for in the article (120).


- Note: the above reason are the general and mostly used reasons in terminating/dismissing worker with a serious sickness, however, for every rules and policy there are some consideration and exemption that we cannot able to explain unless we speak with worker.
Reference & Sources: UAE Law and Mena Business Service

Workers Sick Leave Entitlement

The Workers who are not entitled to a paid sick leave:

As written in article (83/1) from labor law, worker who are not entitled to a paid sick leave are as follows:

• Workers who are still under probation period.
• Workers who passed successfully the probation period but their period of service.
• After end of probation period does not exceed three months.
• Workers who are appointed with no probation period system.

The Workers will be entitled for a paid sick leave if his disease resulted while performing his duties and responsibility. However, if the result proves that the disease comes from the worker misbehavior, the situation will be inter-changed.

If an evidenced provided by/ or with medical tests conducted on the worker that the disease has been resulted from his misbehavior, such as taking drugs or alcoholics, he shall not be entitled to a pay for his sick leave … As per UAE Labor Law, article (84).

Reference and Source: Mena Business Services

Pay During Sick Leave

The maximum period for the sick leaves, where workers will be entitled to receive pay against absence due to sickness are:
The maximum period for the sick leave in respect of the non- professional is (90) days for
every year from years of service of the worker, and his pay is calculated as follows:

• First fifteen days with full pay
• The following thirty days with half pay
• The following period without pay ... article (83)

Reference: Mena Business Services & Ministry of Labour

Sick Leave

As per UAE Law, Employee should notify his employer/sponsor of his sickness which is not resulted from his job or injury in the work? The worker is required to notify employer/sponsor within 24 hours from the time his sickness started in any mode of notification, it could be by phone, or sms or email or by mail. Once the worker notified his employer/sponsor, the employer should put into a medical examination the particular worker to verify the status and strength of his illness.


If this happen, employer should immediately approved the sick leave as soon as possible, if not he will be exposed to penalty, with the UAE Law and Ministry of Labor.

Reading Sources: Mena Business Service and UAE Labor Laws/Ministry of Labour and Immigration

Number of Days for Annual Leave

According to the article (75) from the labor law, the worker is entitled to be granted an annual leave which shall not be less than the following periods:
- Two a month, where the worker's period of service is more than six months but less than a year,
- 30 days a year, where the worker's period of service is more than one year,
- Where a worker's service is terminated, he shall be entitled to annual leave in respect of fractions of the last year.

Source: Mena Business Service

Individual Employment Contract

Is the worker entitled to obtain an employment contract?
Yes … the worker is entitled to obtain the employment contract concluded between the two parties and issued and attested by the ministry of labor signed by the two parties … as the employment contract shall be in writing and each of the worker and employer shall have a copy respectively.. In addition, the approved language in the state is the Arabic language. In addition, in case the worker does not receive the employment contract, he shall resort to the ministry of labour.
If the employment contract has not been issued from the ministry, can I prove my service with employer or not?
Evidence shall be conducted by the legal evidence means … for example: internal contract concluded between the two parties, appointment letter, payment statement or book of attendance and going out of the work... etc., if the worker has one of them.
What is the necessary information that shall be available in the employment contract? Article (36):
The employment contract shall contain the following:
- Date of signing the contract.
- Date of starting the work
- Type of the contract, either it is (a limited or unlimited contract)
- Place of signing the contract
- Period of the contract: if it is a limited contract … there shall be a date of the commencement and end of the contract in the unlimited contract only the commencement shall be mentioned therein
- Amount of the payment: the basic salary, allowances and bonuses shall be specified
- Occupation

Note: if there are any other conditions agreed upon between the parties of the contract to be added at the date of signing the contract if they are not in contradiction with the labor law
Sources: Mena Business Services & UAE Labor Law mol.gov.ae

Sponsor Visa

A reader located in Dubai asked Gulf-news regarding Passport and Visas in UAE. The Question below is directly copied from the question of the reader:

“ Can the company I work with sponsor my sister-in-law? Is it okay if I ask my employer to sponsor my sister-in-law and to secure the necessary employment visa for her to work in Dubai?”

I will re-instate the question:

“Reader would like to ask if his employer would be able to sponsor his sister in law to work in UAE with the same company sponsorship.”

The rule in UAE states, if an employee is working with a company and has a compensation of minimum 5,000 AED and working at least 6 months with the company, he could sponsor his immediate family (Parents, Wife or Husband and Children) for residence visa through Employee’s Sponsorship. However, “Sister In-Law” is not included in this sponsorship program granted to an employee. He can able to ask his sponsor to help his sister in law in getting a Visit Visa under the same sponsorship unless, the sponsor would like to hire his sister in-law too, then it is possible.

For further and more concise answers, please go to the Department of Naturalization and Residence or you may check their official website: http://mol.gov.ae/

Sources: gulfnews.com & mol.gov.ae

Dear Readers, if there is anything not accurate in my blog/ or anything you would like to add in relation with the topic for UAE laws, please dont hesitate to leave a comment so that we can correct it or make changes or add some more...

New Visa Rule in UAE

Dear All,

Starting 2011 of January, UAE Ministry of Labor started the New Rule for Employment Residence both for UAE national and Expatriate Employees. The Rule implies and be implemented as follows:

- New Visa will be 2 years instead of 3 years, for unlimited and limited residence visa
- There will be no banned anymore once employee finish the first 2 years contract; but
- If incase an employee has been resigned or terminated after 1 year of service, he will not have ban of 1 year if he got an offer letter from a company with salary starting from & between AED 5,000, 7,000 & 12,000 or more and he has a authenticated school credential to prove that he has a Higher Degree Certificate;
- Banned will be lifted if less than 1 year for professional in many conditions, e.g. salary should start from AED 5,000 with professional degree or higher education or license like Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers etc...

reading sources: UAE Labor Laws Updates

for more information, please dont hesitate to post a comment anytime you wish too.

What is the primary pre-requisite for employment?

An application must be made to the Ministry of Labour to employ any expatriate employee in the UAE. The application is to be approved by the Ministry of Labour before the employee enters the UAE. Employment permits are valid for three years subject to renewals for similar periods.

In the case of national employees, an employment contract may be entered into at any time. Employment contracts for non-nationals must be drawn in the format approved by the Ministry of Labour on an application made by the employer. Employment contracts for national employees need not, however, be in writing and the terms and conditions of employment may be proved by any means of proof admissible by law. A labour permit for an expatriate employee will not be issued by the Ministry of Labour unless a formal written labour contract is filed with the Ministry.

Source: U.A.E. Labor Laws

The facet of an employer employee relationship...

The law covers all facets of the employee-employer relationships (U.A.E. Labor Laws, Chapter 12). It governs all aspects of employment contracts, restrictions on the employment of juveniles and women, maintenance of records and files, wages, working hours, leave, safety and protection of employees, medical and social care, codes of discipline, termination of employment contracts, end-of-service benefits, compensation for occupational diseases, labor inspections, penalties and employment related accidents, injuries and fatalities.

Source: U.A.E. Labor Laws

Characteristic of a Limited Contract

• Has commencement and completion date;
• Terms cannot be more than the period of 4 years. It can be renewed through a mutual consent in a lesser period of time;
• Contract will be terminated at the end of the contract period, unless renewed by both parties (employee and employer);
• If the employer wish to terminate the contract for reasons other than those specified in Article 120 of the Law (U.A.E. Labor Laws), he shall be liable to pay compensation to the employee based on wages due to him/her.
• If the contract, however, is terminated by the employee for reasons other than those stated under Article 12l of the Law, the employee should be liable to compensate the employer against any loss resulting from the termination. The amount of compensation payable is calculated based on the employee’s salary for one month and a half or whichever is less.

When can a contract of employment be terminated?

An employment contract can be terminated on the following reasons:

1. Both parties agree;
2. Contract term has come to an end (No extension is present);
3. No Notice from both sides (employer and employee) for unlimited contract;

Fixed term Contract - if terminated before its expiry compensation of up to 3 months’ remuneration may be due.

Unlimited Contract - may be terminated, for a valid reason, on at least 30 days’ notice in writing (subject to any greater period provided for in the Contract).

Daily paid employees are entitled to less notice, subject to the terms of their Contract.

The Contract can be added to a party’s rights under the Labour Law but it cannot remove or reduce any e.g. employer cannot reduce or waive the notice period but it can place the employee on a leave with full pay if there is a desire to remove him from the company immediately. Irrespective of any agreement to reduce the amount of notice that requires to be worked out both parties, the employee will be entitled to a payment in respect of the full notice period.

Information on Lay-off

In the present situation of UAE, companies had done massive lay-off due to global crisis. Organization terminated un-important position and employees thru lay-off action.

Employees, who have been lay-off, were paid for all their salaries, accrued vacation leave, gratuity and around 1 to 3 months financial assistance that solely depends on the company position in the market...

Any question regarding lay-offs, do not hesitate to leave a question…

Termination of Contract

There are two types of termination of contract:

1. Termination by Employer
2. Termination by Employee

Termination by Employer: As implemented rules all over the world, UAE employer is not so far different from other countries employers in terms of terminating employees contract however, there are some additional negative issues such as automatic banned of 6 months if contract terminated in less 3 years, and banned cannot be paid without NOC from previous employer, and other things associated e.g. positions, contract period, others...
Some of the causes of "Just termination by employer" are:
1. Unsatisfactory Performance and Negligence;
2. Insubordination;
3. Fraud and Falsification;
4. Employees' Conduct and Behavior; and more...

Termination by Employee: As implemented by the law in UAE, an employee wish to resign from the position is allowed to leave for as long that they give a minimum notice of 1 month to their employer/company.

Need to clarify more, please visit my site for guidance...

Vacation Leave

In UAE rules every employees whether staff, labour, or managers are entitled to receive 30 days of vacation leave with pay for every year of service of an employee with a provision that the employee had completed 1 year of continuous service in a company.