Paternity leave: Is it still applicable if child is born outside the UAE?
Can an employee travel to his home country for birth of child?
Dubai: The new UAE Labour Law – Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021, which came into effect last year, provides various leaves for employees, including a parental leave of five days, which can be availed of by an employee after the birth of his or her child. However, is an employee entitled to take this leave even when his child may have been born outside the UAE? A Gulf News reader wrote in, asking this question.
He said: “I have a request for clarification on the paternity leave available to a private sector employee as per the UAE Labour Law - does this apply in cases where the child is born outside UAE, for example in the employee's home country? And can the employee take the five days paid leave to travel to the home country against the same?”
Gulf News raised the query with Rajiv Suri, Senior Associate at Al Suwaidi and Company, Advocates and Legal Consultants, who said that the leave is referred to as ‘parental leave’, under Article 32 of the UAE Labour Law, which talks about ‘Various or miscellaneous leaves’ that an employee is allowed to take.
b. Paternal leave for five working days for the worker (father or mother) who had a child, to take care of his or her child. Such leave shall be taken successively or otherwise during the period of six months following the date of birth of the child.
The law does not stop an employee from travelling to his home country for this purpose, but then to avail leaves under this clause, the employer may require proof of the birth of the child.
“The law does not specify as to whether the child should be born inside the UAE to avail this leave. It implies that this provision is applicable even if a worker’s child is born outside UAE. The only requirement is that the parent – that is the mother or father – should be a UAE worker. For mothers, this paid leave is granted in addition to the maternity leave as provided for under Article 30 of the UAE Labour Law. The entitlement under this clause is for five working days leave, which can be continuous or intermittent within six months of a child’s birth,” Suri said.
Responding to the reader’s query on whether an employee can use this leave to travel to his home country to see the child, Suri said: “The law does not stop an employee from travelling to his home country for this purpose, but then to avail leaves under this clause, the employer may require proof of the birth of the child.”