Not paying employees for annual leave: Face repercussions from the UAE Labour Law
Are employers entitled to ask you to return salary deposited in WPS?
Dubai: If you are working in the UAE, are you legally entitled to receive your salary in full even for the days you take off as part of your annual leave? A Gulf News reader wrote in asking this question.
The reader asked: “We are running a company and the issue we are facing is regarding depositing the salary of staff who are on leave. We deposit the salary in the WPS system and as the salary is not given for the vacation period, we have to collect the deposited salary back from the employees for the months that they were on vacation. Managing this financial issue cases causes a lot of inconvenience. Kindly advise us whether it is compulsory to deposit the salary for the period they were on vacation.”
This is against the UAE law
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 spoke about what the UAE’s Labour Law – Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 – says about employees’ salaries when they go on leave.
He said: “Please note that as per the UAE Labour Law, every company should pay a month’s salary in full as leave salary once in a year as and when an employee completes a year in a company. This has to be the full salary the employee receives, and not just the basic salary.
“Collecting this amount back from the employees is against the law. In case any employees approaches the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) or the court about this practice, the authorities will hold the company or the employer responsible to pay it to the employees as their right.”
As per the UAE Labour Law, every company should pay a month’s salary in full as leave salary once in a year as and when an employee completes a year in a company.
He referred to Article 29 (1) and Article 29 (6) of the UAE Labour Law, which mandates an employer to grant 30 days' paid annual leave to its employees.
Article 29 (1) of the UAE Labour Law – Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021
Without prejudice to the rights accruing to the worker prior to the entry into force of this Decree-Law, the worker shall be entitled to a paid annual leave of not less than: a. 30 days a year for each year of service. b. Two days per month, where the period of service is more than six months and less than one year. c. A leave for the fractions of the last year of service, in the event of end of his service before the use of his annual leave balance.
Article 29 (6) of the UAE Labour Law – Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021
The worker shall be entitled to be paid in respect of the period of annual leave.
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