UAE law: Maternity leave is due even if you are working on husband’s visa

Also every LLC partner has right to attend meetings regardless of share

Last updated: September 05, 2019 | 21:55

Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba, Special to Gulf News

3 MIN READ

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I have worked in a company for one year under my husband’s visa on a temporary work permit and I am currently eight months pregnant. Am I entitled to maternity leave even if I’m not under my company’s visa? In my contract is says I’m not entitled because I am on a temporary work permit. It says only those on company visas are entitled. So what are my rights under UAE labour law?

As per the UAE labour law Federal Law no.(8) of 1980 Article 30, it states: “A female worker shall be entitled to maternity leave with full pay for a period of 45 days, including the period preceding and the period following her confinement, on condition that she has been in her employer’s service for a continuous period of not less than one year. If she has not completed the aforesaid period of service, she shall be entitled to maternity leave with half pay.

On the expiry of her maternity leave a female worker may be absent from her work without pay maximum period of 100 consecutive or non consecutive days if such absence is due to an illness preventing her from resuming her work and if the illness is confirmed with a medical certificate issued by the medical service specified by the competent health authority, or if the latter authority confirms that the illness was caused by the women’s work of confinement. The leave provided for the preceding two paragraphs shall not be deducted from other periods of leave.

Finally as per the UAE Labour Law a female employee is entitled to maternity leave even if she is not under a company visa as long as the questioner is working in the company with the official work permit.”

I’m a partner in an LLC Company and the other partners are not allowing me to attend General Assembly meetings because according to them anyone who doesn’t hold a 30 per cent share has no right to attend. Do I have the right to attend under UAE commercial law? Do I have the right to delegate another party to attend on my behalf? How many partners are required to make a General Assembly valid?

Company Commercial Federal Law no.2 for the year 2015, Article no. 95 and 96 states the following:

Article 95: “Irrespective of the number of the shares held, every partner shall have the right to attend the General Assembly in person and may delegate another partner who is not a manager, or any other party that the Memorandum of Association permits to be appointed to represent a partner at the General Assembly to do so. Every partner shall have a number of votes equal to the number of the shares held or represented by such partner.”

Article 96:

Quorum (minimum number of people) at the General Assembly shall not be valid unless one or more partners holding at least 75 per cent of the capitals of the company are present.

If such quorum as set forth in Clause 1 of this Article is not present at the meeting, the partners shall be invited to another meeting, to be held within 14 days from the date of the first meeting, provided that at least 50 per cent of the capital is present at the meeting.

If quorum, as set forth in clauses 1 and 2 of this Article is not present, the partners shall be invited to a third meeting to be held upon the expiry of 30 days from the date of the second meeting. Quorum at the third meeting shall be valid irrespective of the partners present at the meeting.

The Decisions by the General Assembly shall not be valid unless passed by the majority of the partners present in person and those represented at the meeting, unless the Memorandum of Association provides for a higher majority.