Q. I am due to deliver my baby in March next year. I read about some amendments made to the UAE labour laws recently. With the new law, how many maternity leaves am I entitled to? What about my husband, would he get some days off, too? Also, am I allowed to combine annual leaves with maternity leaves, so I get a longer break to look after my child?
A. It is noted that you are due to deliver your child in March, next year. By such time, the existing employment laws of the UAE are going to be replaced entirely by fresh legislation, i.e., Federal Law No 33 of 2021 re. Employment Relations (the ‘New Employment Law’). The new law is expected to become effective from the month of February 2022.
As to maternity leaves, the provisions of Article 30 of the New Employment Law shall apply. The said Article 30 comprehensively sets forth the provisions regarding maternity leave and post-natal child-care. An English translation of the said Article 30 is quoted hereinafter for your reference.
1. A female worker shall be entitled to a maternity leave of (60) sixty days as follows:
A. The first (45) forty-five days with full pay.
B. The next (15) fifteen days with half pay.
2. A female worker who exhausts her maternity leave may be absent from work without pay for no more than (45) forty-five successive or interrupted days, if such absence is due to illness occurring to her or her children as result of pregnancy and preventing her to...
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