UAE companies cannot split annual leave for more than two periods

Dubai - Employees must be granted annual leave during each year of service

I work for a private company where our annual leave of 22 working days is given to each employee starting from January 1 every year. Up until now, the employee could use his or her annual leave days according to their discretion, either using up all the days at one go or stagger it over the year in shorter leave periods.
However, for 2018, we hear that the HR department may introduce a system where they will "credit" 2.5 days of leave every month into each employee's leave balance. The introduction of the new leave system will mean that all team members can only start going on leave in the second half of the year (as they will have a substantial number of leave balance days accumulated only by then) and this would disrupt operations badly. For those of us with families back home, it is doubly inconvenient to wait to have enough leave days.
My question is whether the HR is allowed to implement such a rule under the purview of the UAE Labour Law, or are they going against the law? Over the last few years, they have changed a number of rules regarding our leaves and compensatory off days. What actions can we take to protect our leave rights and allowance?
Answer:
Pursuant to your queries, let me first refer to the relevant provisions regarding annual leave as stipulated in the Employment Law. As such, employees must be granted annual leave during each year of service, which at the first year of service shall be allowed for two days every month, post completion of six months of service and subsequently for thirty days every year. This is in accordance with Article 75 of the Employment Law. The law reads as follows: "Every worker shall, within each year of service, be granted a period of annual leave of not less than two a month, where the worker's period of service is more than six a month but less than one year; 30 days a year, where the worker's period of service is more than one year. Where a worker's service is terminated, he shall be entitled to annual leave in respect of the fractions of the last year."
In furtherance of the above, the Employment Law states that the employers may set the date of commencement of annual leave and may if deemed necessary divide such leave into not more than two periods. Article 76 reads: "The employer may fix the date of commencement of annual leave and, if necessary, divide such leave into not more than two periods. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provision respecting the division of leave shall not apply to leave fixed for young persons."
In response to the first part of your question, the rules regarding annual leave, which are presently under contemplation of your HR department, may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Employment Law. As noted above, Article 75 clearly states that every employee is entitled to receive 30 (calendar) days' paid leave annually as part of such employee's annual leave entitlement, once an employee has completed one year of continuous service. Further, under the provisions of Article 76, it is specifically provided that although the date of commencement of annual leave may be decided upon by the employer, the annual leave period cannot be divided into more than two periods by such employer. Your employer is contemplating on crediting 2.5 days' annual leave every month in a calendar year, the annual leave is actually being split into more than two periods. This is contradictory to the provisions regarding annual leave under the Employment Law.
Additionally, it may be noted that in respect of employment durations, the period of a 'year' is generally calculated on the basis of the date of joining of the employee and not from the first day in a calendar year.
It is further noted that your employer has at its own discretion changed rules regarding your leave and compensatory off-days, whereby the number of days in respect of permissible leaves have been shortened considerably. In pursuance of this, it may be noted that in the UAE employment terms are governed by the terms and stipulations of the employment contracts, and employers are also free to introduce rules regarding employment within the organisation. However, the employment contracts and the regulations observed within an organisation cannot contradict the provisions stipulated under the provisions of the Employment Law. As such all employers must primarily be in compliance with the provisions, standards and frameworks prescribed under the Employment Law.
Therefore, if your employer continues to act against the provisions of the Employment Law, you may contact the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation for their intervention in the matter.
Ashish Mehta is the founder and Managing Partner of Ashish Mehta & Associates. He is qualified to practise law in Dubai, the United King. Full details of his firm on: www.amalawyers.com. Readers may e-mail their questions to: news@khaleejtimes.com or send them to Legal View, Khaleej Times, PO Box 11243, Dubai

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