I am a woman working in a company in Dubai. Six months ago I signed an internal contract with my company agreeing that I will be granted maternity leave — unpaid — for only two months and only once during my employment. Now, the company has rejected my application for maternity leave, which is supposed to start in May. As per the UAE labour law, how much maternity leave am I entitled to? My employer claims that the internal contract supersedes the labour contract because it is the latest document and has been signed by me.

Article 30 of Federal Law No 8 of 1980 states: “A female worker is entitled to maternity leave with full pay for a period of 45 days, including the period preceding and the period following her confinement, on condition that she has been in her employer’s service for a continuous period of not less than a year. If she has not completed this period of service, she shall be entitled to maternity leave with half pay. On the expiry of her maternity leave, a female worker may be absent from work without pay for a maximum period of 100 consecutive, or non-consecutive, days if such an absence is due to an illness that prevents her from resuming her work. The illness must be confirmed by a medical certificate from a competent health authority.

“The duration of maternity leave shall not be deducted from other periods of leave.”

Finally, the internal contract, which states that the questioner has the right to unpaid maternity leave for only two months, violates the UAE labour law and is invalid.

How is a company liquidated?

Under what circumstances can the partners in a company request a court to liquidate the company? What is the procedure?

Articles 306 to 326 of federal law No 2 of 2015 on commercial companies stipulates the procedure to liquidate a Limited Liability Company in the UAE. This law governs all companies except those located in free zones and offshore companies. Under this law a company can be liquidated for any of the following reasons:

1. Expiry of its duration cited in the articles of incorporation or association: A company incorporated for a fixed period of time dissolves automatically on expiry of this period.

2. Completion of the objective for which the company was established: Companies incorporated for specific projects or tasks cease to exist on completion of the activity.

3. Loss of all or most of the company’s assets: A company without sufficient assets to operate needs to be terminated.

For the dissolution of the company to be effected, in case the share capital of a limited liability company is half, directors are to put the matter of dissolution before a general meeting. In case the losses suffered by the company amount to more than half of the capital, the partners who hold one-fourth of the capital may request dissolution.

Liquidation is to be carried out by one or more liquidators to be appointed by the partners or the general meeting approved by the majority by which the company’s decisions are taken.

A notice is to be given of the dissolution by entry in the Commercial Register, and publication of dissolution notice in two Arabic newspapers.

A company has a legal personality only to the extent required by the liquidation process and it is thereby required that the name of the company should have the suffix ‘under liquidation’ added.

A company can also be terminated due to it being declared bankrupt. This area is covered by the Commercial Transactions Law.

A commercial company may be declared bankrupt if it defaults on its debts due to disruption of financial operations. A company may be declared bankrupt even if it is in the process of liquidation.

In case of public joint stock companies and limited liability companies, if the declaration of bankruptcy is requested, then liquidation proceedings are suspended till bankruptcy proceedings are completed.

Questions answered by advocate Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba of Al Shaiba Advocates and Legal Consultants.