I have been working in a company for more than 8 months, presently, I am 8 months pregnant. I applied for maternity leave and asked them about my dues within the leave, however, the company stated that in accordance with the UAE Labour Law and company policy, I am not entitled to any dues during the maternity leave as I have not completed one year in service. My question here is, is this true and what are my rights as per the UAE Labour Law and is it possible as per UAE Labour Law the maternity leave can be extended? Please advise in details.
I would like to clarify to the questioner that she is entitled to dues during the maternity leave even if she has not completed a year with the company as indicated in detail in the article 30 of UAE Labour Law which states: “A female worker shall be 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 continuous period of not less than one year. If she has not completed the aforesaid 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 her work without pay for a maximum period of 100 consecutive or non-consecutive days if such absence is due to an illness preventing her from resuming her work and if the illness is confirmed by a medical certificate issued by the medical service specified by the competent health authority or if the latter authority confirms that the illness was caused by the women’s work or confinement.
The leave period the preceding two paragraphs shall not be deducted from other periods of leave.”
