New UAE Labour Law: How are sick leaves calculated?
Can you take sick leaves during the probation period? Find out.
Dubai: With a new labour law coming into effect in the UAE from next year, the legislation that will govern employer-employee relations in the private sector will be updated from February 2, 2022.
Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on the regulation of labour relations was announced this month and has details of various aspects of work life that affect employees, including how gratuity is calculated, maximum working hours and the various leaves that an individual is entitled to.
Article 31 of the new law specifically lays down the details of how sick leaves would be calculated, including the maximum number of days a person can take off and how pay is calculated for these days.
Here are the complete details on what the law says:
Article 31 – Sick leaves
1. A worker who contracts an illness that is not a work injury shall report his illness to his employer, or his representative, within a maximum of three working days and shall submit a medical report about his condition from the medical institution.
2. A worker shall not be entitled to any paid sick leave during the probationary period. However, the employer may grant him an unpaid sick leave, based on a medical report issued by the medical institution stating that the leave is necessary.
3. A worker who completes his probationary period shall be entitled to a sick leave not exceeding 90 days, successive or otherwise, in respect of each year of service, to be calculated as follows:
a. The first 15 days with full pay.
b. The next 30 days with half pay.
c. Subsequent period without pay.
4. No wage shall be paid for the sick leave if the illness results from the worker's misconduct, according to cases determined by the Executive Regulations of this Decree-Law.
5. The employer may dismiss the worker if he/she fails to report to work, after exhausting their sick leave referred to in this article, and the worker shall reserve all his/her entitlements pursuant to the provisions of this Decree-Law and its Executive Regulations.