On Friday, the new year began with all eyes on the flaming night sky filled with Dubai’s world-famous firework spectacular. Employees in the UAE have a revived interest in the labour market according to the ministry of labour. In the United Arab Emirates, a new Labour Law and Executive Regulations have made significant changes to employment law, including part-time and flexible work, contract and termination provisions, sexual harassment, and bullying. The ‘Executive Regulations’’ are intended to complement, explain, and expand on certain aspects of the new UAE labour law 2022.
Part-Time and Flexible Working
In recent legislation, a variety of new alternative flexible and unconventional work arrangements have been created.
- Part-time employees are acknowledged and will be entitled to pro-rated vacation leave.
- A temporary job is appropriate when the length of the working tenure is determined by time or a project goal. This appears to be a comparable structure to that offered by the Original Law’s fixed-term contracts.
- Flexible employment is when an employer’s working hours and/or days of work change based on the workload of the employer as well as economic and operational considerations.
Likewise, while there are no particular restrictions for remote or home working arrangements, an employee may work remotely with the agreement of his or her employer. The Executive Regulations include ‘work sharing’ as a fifth alternative employment arrangement in addition to the four flexible arrangements outlined in the New Law.
Executive regulation clarifies the unclear new Law on whether and how companies must adopt these alternative employment arrangements, as well as how employee benefits and rights for employees who do not work full-time and permanently would be affected.
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Work Permits
The UAE government has announced the impending adoption of several other new visas and permits, suggesting a significant shift in the country’s immigration landscape. The Executive Regulations relate to numerous sorts of work permits to represent the various forms of sponsorship and employment arrangements that are now in existence and that will be implemented in the future. The following are the permissions:
- Individuals hired from outside the UAE require work licences.
- Dependent visas are for those who are sponsored for residency by a dependent.
- Temporary work permits are used when the length of the employment period is determined by time or a project goal.
- Individuals engaged on a part-time contract are eligible for partial work permits.
- Student training and employment permits allow MOHRE-registered companies to train or employ students above the age of 15 in line with particular rules and criteria, including appropriate training and working conditions.
- Work permits are required to train a UAE national following his scientific competence.
Discrimination and Equal Pay
The New Law protects employees from workplace discrimination, and specifically prohibits discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, social origin, or disability that would deny an employee equal opportunities or preclude an employee from obtaining and maintaining employment. For the same task, the New Law stipulates that men and women shall be paid equally.
While there are no particular sanctions for discrimination or sexual harassment, employers may be subject to fines if they violate the law. You can visit a labour law firm in Dubai for these cases.
Fixed Term Contract
All employees must now sign fixed-term employment contracts for a maximum of three years. After the term has passed, the employment contract can be renewed or extended for similar or shorter periods. Following the Effective Date, the requirements of the New Law will automatically apply to employees who are currently on unlimited term contracts. Within one year of the Effective Date, employers must convert existing unlimited duration contracts into fixed-term contracts.
End of Service Gratuity
The Executive Regulations also allow part-time and job-sharing employees to receive prorated end-of-service gratuity. It is worth noting that the Executive Regulations make no mention of pro-rating annual leave for workers who work in a job-sharing arrangement. The service gratuity is calculated as:
- Working days will be derived from the total number of hours to be worked each year.
- After then, divide the total number of working days by the number of working days in a full-time calendar year.
- The full-time equivalent end-of-service gratuity entitlement is then compounded by this sum.
Moving Forward
Labour leads to the country’s wealth and power. As a result, physical labour should be valued. The goal of labour law is to equalise the power between the worker and the employer. It aids in preventing an employer from dismissing a worker without reason, as well as establishing and maintaining mechanisms that acknowledge workers as “equal” partners in conversations regarding their working circumstances.
