UAE: What happens to annual leave accrued at the end of the year – News

A KT reader asked if they could carry the holiday over to next year

question: I work for a mainland company in Dubai. I have several leaves to process. What will happen to these in the new year?

Reply: Let’s say you work full time. Accordingly, Federal Act No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Employment Relations (“Employment Act”) and Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022 on the implementation of Federal Act No. Cabinet Resolution”) applies.

In the UAE, an employee is entitled to 30 calendar days of annual leave for each year of continuous service to the employer. This complies with article 29, paragraph 1, of the Labor Code. In addition, employers are required to grant annual leave to employees at least once every two years. This is in line with Article 29, Paragraph 8 of the Labor Law: “An employer shall not prevent an employee from using accrued annual leave of more than two years, unless the employee is willing to carry forward or substitute the leave in accordance with the institution’s charter and the implementing regulations of this Act.”

However, employees can only carry forward 15 days of annual leave to the following year. This is in line with Clause 19 of Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022, which states: “In accordance with clauses (8) and (9) of Clause (29) of the Decree:

1. Employees can carry forward no more than half of their annual leave to the next year, or make an agreement with the employer to pay cash allowances based on the salary during the leave.

2. After the employee’s service period expires, the cash allowance for the balance of the statutory annual leave will be paid according to the basic salary standard.

However, if an employee does not want to use his annual leave after completing a year of service, he or she can only carry forward the 15 days of annual leave to the next year and can claim a cash allowance from the employer.

Ashish Mehta is the founder and managing partner of Ashish Mehta & Associates. He is qualified to practice in Dubai, UK and India. For more information about his firm, please visit: www.amalawyers.com. Readers can email their questions to: news@khaleejtimes.com or send them to Legal View, Khaleej Times, PO Box 11243, Dubai.

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