Leave in the UAE private sector: annual, sick, maternity and other leave

Under the UAE Labour Law, a private-sector worker gets at least 30 days of paid annual leave a year, or 2 days a month for service over six months but under a year. After probation, sick leave runs to 90 days a year: 15 on full pay, 30 on half pay and 45 unpaid. Maternity leave is 60 days, and either parent gets 5 working days of parental leave.

Key takeaways

• Annual leave is at least 30 days for each year of service, or 2 days a month when service is over six months but under a year.
• Unused annual leave is paid when the job ends, whatever the number of days, calculated on the basic wage.
• After probation, sick leave is up to 90 days a year: 15 days on full pay, 30 days on half pay and 45 days unpaid.
• Maternity leave is 60 days, 45 on full pay and 15 on half pay; parental leave is 5 working days for either parent.
• Bereavement leave is 5 days for a spouse and 3 days for the other close relatives listed in the law.

On this page 12 sections

Annual leave: how many days

The entitlement grows with service: the 2-day monthly rule applies once service passes six months, and every full year earns at least 30 days. The rules are in Article 29 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, the UAE Labour Law.

Annual leave

30 days a year; 2 days a month after 6 months

A worker is entitled to fully paid annual leave of at least 30 days for each year of service, and 2 days for each month of service if service is more than 6 months but less than a year; leave for the part of the last year is due if service ends before the leave is used.

After one year of service

Each full year earns at least 30 days. The law sets a minimum, so a contract or company policy can give more. Public holidays that fall inside a worker’s annual leave count as days of that leave, unless the contract or the company’s rules are more generous (Article 29(7)).

Between six months and one year

Once service is longer than six months, the worker gets 2 days for each month of service, the wording u.ae uses, so a worker with 9 complete months has 18 days. The law does not say how a part month counts; the leave salary calculator on this site counts complete months only.

The last part year and part-time workers

When a job ends partway through a year, leave for that part year is still due, in proportion to the time worked. Part-time workers build up leave according to the hours they actually work, as set in the employment contract and the Implementing Regulation of the Labour Law.

When leave is taken and carried forward

The employer sets the dates, either in agreement with the worker or by rotating leave among staff, and must give advance notice. Leave is meant to be taken in the year it is earned, and moving it to the next year needs the employer’s approval.

Scheduling and carrying forward

1 month's notice of leave dates; leave accrued over 2 years

The employer may set annual leave dates according to work needs, in agreement with the worker or in rotation among workers, and must notify the worker of the dates at least 1 month in advance; with the employer's approval the worker may carry leave forward to the next year, and the employer may not prevent a worker from taking leave accrued for more than 2 years unless the worker chooses to carry it forward or receive a cash allowance.

Leave during probation is possible only if the employer agrees. A worker who takes some leave during probation and then does not pass it keeps the right to be paid for the rest of the balance (Article 29(3)). A worker who does not come back when leave ends, without a legitimate reason, is not paid for the days of absence that follow (Article 34). The rules on probation itself are in probation period in the UAE.

Leave salary and pay for unused leave

Leave salary is the pay for days of annual leave. The law names two bases for it: the “full wage” while the leave is taken, and the basic wage when unused days are paid out at the end of the job.

Pay while on annual leave

A worker on annual leave keeps being paid: Article 29(1) grants the leave “with full wage”, and Article 29(6) entitles the worker to the wage for the leave period. The two pay terms are defined in Article 1:

Wage and basic wage

Basic wage excludes allowances; wage includes them

The UAE Labour Law defines the basic wage as the wage stated in the employment contract and paid for the work on a monthly, weekly, daily, hourly or piecework basis, not including any allowances or benefits in kind; the wage is the basic wage plus the cash allowances and benefits in kind allocated to the worker under the contract or the law.

The Labour Law leaves the detailed rules on leave pay and on compensation for leave to its Implementing Regulation (Article 29(10)).

Unused leave when the job ends

Unused days are paid out when the job ends, on a base the law names.

Unused leave on exit

Unused leave paid on basic wage

A worker who leaves before using accrued annual leave is entitled to pay for the unused days, whatever their number, and for leave accrued in the part of the year worked, calculated on the basic wage.

The law does not say how a day’s wage is worked out from a monthly wage. It does say how periods are counted, which gives two possible divisors: 30 days for a month, or 365 days for a year.

How the law counts periods

Year = 365 days; month = 30 days

Periods and dates in the UAE Labour Law are calculated on the Gregorian calendar, with a year counted as 365 days and a month as 30 days.

Worked example

Unused leave after 9 months on a basic wage of AED 9,000

The wage, the length of service and the days taken are illustrations. The worker leaves after 9 complete months of service, having taken 6 days of leave.

1. Service is over six months and under a year, so leave builds up at 2 days a month: 9 × 2 = 18 days.
2. Unused days: 18 - 6 = 12 days.
3. A day’s basic wage on a 30-day month: AED 9,000 ÷ 30 = AED 300.
4. Pay for the unused days: 12 × AED 300 = AED 3,600.
5. On a 365-day year instead, a day’s basic wage is AED 9,000 × 12 ÷ 365 = AED 295.89, and 12 × AED 295.89 = AED 3,550.68.

Pay for unused leave: AED 3,600.00 on a 30-day month, or AED 3,550.68 on a 365-day year.

Unused leave pay is one item of the final settlement. Notice pay and the other final dues are explained in resignation and termination. The end-of-service benefit is separate and is covered in end-of-service gratuity, with a gratuity calculator.

Sick leave

Sick leave is partly paid, and paid sick leave starts only after probation. The worker has to tell the employer within 3 working days and give a medical report from a medical entity (Article 31(1)).

Paid and unpaid sick days

Only the first 45 days of sick leave in a year carry any pay.

Sick leave after probation

15 full pay + 30 half pay + 45 unpaid

After probation, a worker is entitled to up to 90 days of sick leave a year, continuous or intermittent: the first 15 days on full pay, the next 30 days on half pay and the remaining 45 days unpaid. The worker must notify the employer and provide a medical report from the medical entity; Article 31(1) of the Labour Law sets the time limit for notifying at 3 working days.

No sick pay is due where the illness results from the worker’s own misconduct, in the cases set by the Implementing Regulation (Article 31(4)). u.ae names illness that arises directly from misconduct, such as drinking alcohol or taking narcotics, and illness where the worker broke safety instructions they had been told about.

Sick leave during probation

There is no paid sick leave during probation. The employer may grant unpaid sick leave if a medical report from a recognised medical authority shows that it is needed.

Protection from dismissal

An employer may not dismiss a worker, or give notice, while the worker is on sick leave. If the worker has used all 90 days and still cannot return, the employer may end the contract, and the worker receives the end-of-service benefits due under the law. An injury or illness caused by work falls under separate rules on work injuries and occupational illness (Cabinet Resolution No. 33 of 2022), not under sick leave.

Maternity leave and nursing breaks

Maternity leave is 60 days, partly on full pay and partly on half pay, with extra time for illness or for a sick child.

Maternity leave

45 days full pay + 15 days half pay

A female worker is entitled to 60 days' maternity leave: 45 days on full pay and 15 days on half pay, with up to 45 further unpaid days for illness from pregnancy or childbirth, and 30 more fully paid days (extendable by 30 unpaid days) if the baby is sick or has a disability.

Start of leave and protection

Leave can start up to 30 days before the expected delivery date

A female worker may apply for maternity leave up to 30 days before the expected date of delivery; under Article 30(8) of the Labour Law, the employer may not end her service or give her notice because of pregnancy, maternity leave or the related absence.

The Labour Law words the start differently from u.ae: the employer grants the leave at the worker’s request from the last day of the month before the month in which the birth is expected, on a medical certificate (Article 30(5)). The leave also applies after a stillbirth, or a baby born alive who then died, where the birth took place 6 months or more into the pregnancy. The extra unpaid days for illness do not count as service for end-of-service benefits. Maternity leave does not reduce the other leave a worker is entitled to (Article 30(6)), but if the worker works for another employer during it, the employer can withhold or recover the pay for the leave period (Article 30(7)).

Nursing breaks

Up to 1 hour a day for 6 months after delivery

After returning from maternity leave, and for up to 6 months from the date of delivery, a female worker is entitled to one or two breaks a day to nurse her child, together not exceeding 1 hour.

u.ae states that the nursing breaks are fully paid.

Parental leave

A worker with a newborn child, whether the mother or the father, gets 5 working days of paid parental leave to care for the child. Many people search for it as “paternity leave”; the law’s term is parental leave.

Parental leave

5 working days

A private-sector employee, mother or father, is entitled to 5 working days of paid parental leave, to be taken between the child's birth and 6 months after it.

The days can be taken together or split, as long as they fall within 6 months of the birth. As with the other leave in Article 32, proof from the relevant authority has to be provided (Article 32(4)).

Other paid and unpaid leave

Article 32 adds paid leave for bereavement, study and national service, and Article 33 allows unpaid leave by agreement.

Bereavement leave

Bereavement leave is paid, and its length depends on who has died.

Bereavement leave

5 days (spouse); 3 days (other listed relatives)

A worker is entitled to paid bereavement leave of 5 days on the death of a husband or wife, and 3 days on the death of a mother, father, son, brother, sister, grandson, grandfather or grandmother, counted from the date of death.

u.ae words the list as a parent, child, sibling, grandchild or grandparent.

Study leave

Study leave covers exam days for workers with at least two years at the same employer.

Study leave

10 working days a year, after 2 years' service

A worker who is enrolled or studying regularly at an educational institution approved in the UAE may be granted study leave of 10 working days a year to sit exams, provided the worker has at least 2 years of service with the employer.

The law’s wording is that the leave “may be granted”, and Article 32(2) does not say whether it is paid. u.ae describes it as paid leave and as an entitlement.

National service leave

Emirati workers in the private sector are paid while on leave to perform national service, under Article 32(3) and the laws on national service.

Hajj and Umrah leave

Hajj leave exists but is unpaid, and Umrah has no leave of its own.

Hajj leave

Up to 30 days, unpaid, once per employer

Employees may be granted special leave to perform Hajj that is unpaid, may not exceed 30 days and is granted only once during employment with the same employer; the Labour Law has no specific provision for Umrah leave, which the employer may approve, deduct from annual leave or grant as unpaid leave.

Unpaid leave

A worker can take unpaid leave beyond the types above if the employer approves. That period does not count as service with the employer or as a contribution period in a retirement scheme (Article 33), so it is left out when the end-of-service gratuity is worked out.

Rest days and public holidays

The weekly rest day (Article 21) and public holidays (Article 28(1)) are paid days off. The Cabinet sets the public holidays, and u.ae publishes the current list for the public and private sectors. Under Article 3 of Cabinet Resolution No. 27 of 2024, a holiday that falls on a weekend or on another public holiday is not moved to another day.

The weekly rest day, and what a worker is owed for working on a rest day or a public holiday, are covered in working hours and overtime.

Leave and the end of the contract

Yes, a worker can resign while on annual leave, and an employer can give notice then too. The notice period only starts on the day after the worker’s scheduled return, unless both sides agree otherwise (Article 35), so the leave days do not count towards it.

Two kinds of leave limit notice. An employer may not give notice during sick leave, and may not end a contract because of pregnancy or maternity leave. When the contract ends, unused annual leave is paid on the basic wage, as in the example above. Notice periods themselves are covered in resignation and termination.

Leave types at a glance

More on contracts, pay and staff rules is in the employment and payroll guides.