Maternity leave in UAE

Maternity leave in UAE: What are your rights?

For women working in Dubai, maternity benefits are almost same for private and public sector.

UAE maternity leave for the private sector:

Women working in the private sector of the UAE are entitled to 45 calendar days of leave at full pay for those employees who have completed one year of continuous service as at the date of birth.

If a woman has been working for less than one year of continuous service at the date of her child’s birth, she is entitled to 45 calendar days of leave at half pay.

Maternity leave pay in all cases only as a gross salary, meaning it is inclusive of basic and allowances, whether it is LLC company, or in a freezone UAE.

The leave is calculated based on calendar days (not working days), which means that weekends are included as part of the allowance. This roughly equates to just over six weeks. There is now an additional 5 working days of parental leave, granted to women on top of this.

Maternity leave may be taken before or after the baby’s delivery.

As per the UAE Labour Law, private-sector employees are entitled to a sick leave not exceeding 90 consecutive or non-consecutive days for every year of service, calculated as follows:

1. The first fifteen days -100% payment.

2. The following thirty days with 50% payment.

3. Any following period- no payment.

Extension of maternity leave in private sector due to sickness

After a woman’s 45 days of paid maternity leave is over, she is able to extend her leave by up to 100 days of unpaid leave if she has a valid medical certificate, based on her condition from pregnancy or delivery.

In such instances, the employee would be expected to provide a medical certificate issued by a medical authority attested by the competent health authority or endorsed by such authorities. This entitlement is specifically if the employee cannot resume work due to an illness related to the pregnancy or delivery. This entitlement is in addition to any other type of leave.