Dubai: If you are going on your annual leave, you might be wondering how your salary might be paid during this time. Will it be based on your basic salary or will you get your salary paid in full? A Gulf News reader wrote in, enquiring about how leave salary should be calculated.
He said: “I have a question regarding the annual leave calculation: If an employee goes on annual leave for 30 days, after completing 12 months of service with the company, how does his or her salary get calculated? Is it on the basis of the basic salary or is it on the basic salary with housing allowance, or basic salary along with other allowances?”
Gulf News raised the query with Ibrahim Khaleel Arimala, managing partner and senior legal consultant at Dubai-based law firm Musaab Ali Al-Naqbi Advocates and Legal Consultants, who explained how the number of days of annual leave are calculated, as well as the salary that the employee is entitled to, during this time.
“As per the UAE Labour Law – Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 – the annual leave allowance is as per the employee’s duration of employment as on the date of calculating such leave. For a service of less than six months, no leave is applicable. Between six months to one year, two days of annual leave per month, and after one year of service, 30 days of leave can be taken,” he said.
On how the salary for such a leave period needs to be calculated, Arimala said: “As per Article 29 (1) of the UAE Labour Law, the employee will be entitled to receive his or her full monthly salary, which is the basic salary plus allowances, if the annual leave of 30 days is taken after 12 months of employment.”
He added that the calculation for such a salary is different if the employee is claiming encashment of unused annual leave, when he or she leaves a job.
As per Article 29 (1) of the UAE Labour Law, the employee will be entitled to receive his or her full monthly salary, which is the basic salary plus allowances, if the annual leave of 30 days is taken after 12 months of employment.
“As per Article 29 (9), if the employee is claiming the annual leave salary in the event of terminating his or her employment after 12 months, the salary will be calculated only on his or her basic salary, excluding any and all allowances.”
- Employees must use their leaves in the year of entitlement. The employer may, in agreement with the employee set the dates of leave according to the work requirements. Employer must notify the employee of the date of the leave at least one month in advance.
- The employee may, with the consent of the employer, and in accordance with company’s regulations, carry over his or her annual leave balance to the next year. In this case, the employee will be entitled to be paid for the days he or she worked during the annual leave. The payment is calculated according to the basic salary.
- The employer may not prevent the employee from using his or her accrued annual leave for more than two years. On termination of employment, any accrued leaves will be calculated on basic salary only.
- The calculation of the duration of annual leave will include official holidays specified by law or by agreement, and any other leaves caused by sickness if they fall within the annual leave unless the employment contract or the company’s regulations have other provisions.
What if my company does not pay full salary during annual leave?
Arimala added that in the event of an employer violating any of the rights available under the UAE Labour Law, the employee can raise a complaint with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE), which will then follow the complaint resolution process that is in place.
“Both the parties will be contacted by MOHRE for resolving the issue. In the event of non-settlement, MOHRE will refer the complaint to the labour court to ensure the employee gets the relief entitled to him or her, as per the law,” he said.
MOHRE has a labour complaint service, which employees and employers can use to raise any issues they are facing. In order to raise a complaint online, visit the labour complaint section on the MOHRE website here: http://mobilebeta.mohre.gov.ae/mohre.complaints.app/TwafouqAnonymous2/CallerVerification
You would need to provide any one of the following details for the Ministry to register your complaint:
1. Labour card number
2. Passport number
3. Full name, date of birth, nationality and gender
If you are registered as a private sector employee in the UAE, the system will then direct you to a page where your employee details and company details will be provided.
Click on the ‘Companies’ tab and then click on ‘Add complaint’ to raise the issue with MOHRE.
After you have filed the complaint, you will get a confirmation from MOHRE with the transaction number to track the application’s status.
You can also call the MOHRE helpline number on 600590000 to raise the complaint.
