Federal Decree law No. 20 of 2023 Amending Certain Provisions of Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 Regarding the Regulation of Employment Relationships,

UAE Labour law

Federal Decree law No. 20 of 2023 Amending Certain Provisions of Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 Regarding the Regulation of Employment Relationships, known as the ‘UAE Labour law’ governs the employer-employee relations in the private sector. The provisions of the law apply to all businesses, employees and employers in the private sector. The law became effective on 2 February 2022. It repealed the previous Federal Law No. 8 of 1980.

The new law aims to protect both parties in the employment relationship and enables them to obtain their rights in a balanced manner. It covers matters related to working hours, overtime, leaves, vacation and public holidays, employing juveniles, employee records, safety standards, minimum wage, termination of employment, end of service gratuity payments, work injuries amongst others.

The new law introduces several work models such as full-time, part-time, temporary and flexible. It abolishes the ‘unlimited’ type of contracts and admitted only limited or fixed-term contracts. It grants new types of leaves and tackles issues related to harassment, bullying, physical violence and psychological abuse against employees.

The law prohibits forced labour and discrimination on the basis of gender, race, colour, sex, religion, national or social origin or disability. It also spells out employers’ obligations towards employees.

Scope of the law

The law applies to all employees working in the UAE, whether UAE nationals or expatriates. However, it does not apply to:

• employees and workers of the federal government and the local government entities
• employees of the armed forces, police and security
• domestic servants.