Question: I worked during the Eid Al Adha break and plan to take compensatory days off later. Can these days be combined with my annual leave to extend the total duration of my time off?
Answer: Pursuant to your query, it is assumed that you are employed by an employer based in the mainland of Dubai, hence the provisions of the Employment Law (as defined below) are applicable.
Pursuant to the provisions of the Employment Law, an employee is entitled to fully paid leave on public holidays, and should the employee be required to work on a public holiday, the employee may avail a substitute rest day for each day worked or receive payment in lieu of such holiday. This follows Article (28) of the Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Employment Relations (the ‘Employment Law’), which reads as follows:
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“1. The employee shall be entitled to official leave with full pay in public holidays determined by decision of the Cabinet.
2. Should the work circumstances require that the employee be employed on holidays, the employee shall be compensated with a substitute rest day for each day worked, or be paid his wage for normal working days plus a supplement of at least 50 per cent of his basic wage for that day.”
Following the provisions of Article 28 of the Employment Law, and given that you have worked during the public holidays around Eid Al Adha, you are eligible to avail a substitute rest day for each day worked to seek monetary compensation in lieu of such rest day which shall be your full wage plus 50 per cent of your basic wage for each day worked during the public holidays.
Should you wish to club your additional rest day or days (as per Article 28) with your annual leave, you may request your employer to do so. This is because, in the UAE, it remains at the discretion of an employer to determine the annual leave dates of its employees based on its operational requirements, or mutually in agreement with an employee. An employer must inform an employee of his or her annual leave dates (start date and end date) at least one month in advance before the commencement of the said annual leave. This is in accordance with Article 29 (4) of the Employment Law which states:
“The employee shall use his leave in the year of entitlement. The employer may fix the dates of leave according to the work requirements and in agreement with the employee, or rotate leaves among employees for the smooth progress of work, and shall notify the employee of the date of his leave at least one month before the same.”
The terms pertaining to employee leaves could also be governed by the employer’s internal policies. So, if your employer’s internal rules and regulations mention that annual leave and un-availed public holiday leave days of an employee could be combined, then you may apply for and avail the same from your employer based on your employer’s internal policies. This is in accordance with Article 65(4) of the Employment Law, which states:
“The employer may establish and put in place organisation bylaws and programmes in the establishment that would be more beneficial to the employee than those prescribed in this decree-law and its executive regulations. In the event of conflict between such programmes and bylaws and the provisions of this decree-law, conditions that are more beneficial to the employee shall apply.”
Accordingly, as to whether annual leave may be combined with Eid holidays would be subject to your employer’s discretion who is entitled to take decisions regarding leaves based on operational requirements, or your employer’s internal policies on the subject (if any). Please note that your employer may accept or decline any such request depending on the relevant circumstances as mentioned hereinabove.
It is therefore advisable for you to discuss this matter directly with your employer to mutually agree upon your annual leave duration and dates.
Ashish Mehta is the founder and Managing Partner of Ashish Mehta & Associates. He is qualified to practise law in Dubai, the United Kingdom and India. 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.
Source: Khaleej Times