Are married couples working in the same company eligible for housing allowance?
Do you have to be a full time or part-time employee to have your rent covered?
Dubai: If you are working for a company, are you entitled to a housing allowance, and can they cover your rent? And is this applicable for married couples working in the same office? Are they still qualified for a housing allowance? A Gulf News reader wrote in raising these queries.
They said: "Are all employees entitled to a housing allowance as per the labour law in Dubai? And What does the law say on the above subject if both husband-and-wife work at the same firm?"
Gulf News raised the query with Mohamed Gamal, a legal consultant at a Dubai based law firm - MG Law. He said that ‘Cabinet Resolution No. (27) of 2013 - Regulating Part-Time Employment in the Government of Dubai’ – stipulates that an employer cannot cover the rent of an employee if they have a part-time contract.
“Based on Cabinet Resolution No. (27) of 2013 Regulating Part-Time Time Employment in the Government of Dubai’ and according to Article No. (4), paragraph (f) of the resolution, the employee appointed on a part-time basis is not entitled to any rewards, benefits, or allowances of any kind. Unless they agreed otherwise in the contract.”
Gamal added: “According to the law, only full-time workers are entitled to the housing allowance.”
According to the law, only full-time workers are entitled to the housing allowance.
Can a married couple working in the same company be eligible for a housing allowance?
Granting a housing allowance for a married couple in the same firm is up to the employer's decision.
Gamal said: “This is subject up to the agreement between the employee and the employer. If the husband and wife work in the same company, they each have independent rights."