Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council Image Credit: Dubai Media Office

DUBAI: Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, yesterday approved the Council’s Resolution No. (4) of 2019 related to the regulation of sanctions, grievances and complaints for Dubai Government employees.

The regulation aims to create a strong framework for addressing the challenges facing employees and applying disciplinary measures in a neutral way. According to the resolution, the regulations apply to civilian employees of government entities, who are subject to Law No. (8) of 2018 related to human resources management, and every administrative violation or complaint for which a final decision has not been issued. In addition, all decisions issued during the period from January 1, 2019 to the date of issuance of this resolution are considered valid.

All violators will be subject to penalties unless the violator proves that the administrative violation was made because he or she executed the orders of his managers despite informing them that the order is an administrative violation. In this case, the person who issued the order will be held responsible for the violation.

As per the regulations, the director general of each Dubai Government entity is authorised to issue a decision to set up one or more committees called “Committee of Administrative Violations” to adjudicate the violations and issue a decision within 30 days. The director general of the government entity can extend the deadline for a similar period only once, unless the employee is referred to a competent judicial authority. In this case, the committee must issue its decision within fifteen working days of the date of receiving the decision or the court ruling issued to the employee. The committee should submit a report to the director general in case it fails to issue a decision during the specified period highlighting the reasons for not doing so.

According to the new regulation, resignation will not prevent an employee from being subject to disciplinary action for violations committed by him. The disciplinary actions can include written warning and deduction of salary for up to a maximum of 15 days for each violation per month. Total salary deducted will not exceed 60 days per year.

In case of absence without justification, the employee’s salary can be deducted. In case the absence exceeds 15 consecutive working days or 21 working days per year, the employee will be dismissed from his position. In case he submits a justification, the committee will review the justification and take a decision within 15 days, failing which the justification will be considered valid.

The HR department of the Dubai Government is tasked with training members of the committees to ensure that they are well qualified to deliver their responsibilities efficiently.