Because of restrictions imposed by the "Covid-19" crisis on travel
Employees are demanding that the leave balance be carried over to the next year, on an exceptional basis
Workers in the private sector demanded that they be granted the freedom to obtain the leave or to be deported. Emirates today
Employees in the government and private sectors demanded their employers to allow them to carry over their full annual leave balances for the current year, to the next year, because they were unable to benefit from them due to the repercussions of the "Covid-19" crisis, which imposed restrictions on travel and return.
The Dubai Government Human Resources Department confirmed that the decisions regarding annual leave are defined by the law according to job categories, adding that organizing periodic leaves for employees and approving them is an internal procedure in the government agency.
It was not possible to obtain a response from the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation regarding the possibility of recycling leave funds for the current year, exceptionally, so that they are carried over to the next year.
In detail, employees in federal entities and bodies demanded Ahmed Salem, Hamad Ibrahim, Khawla Ahmed to transfer their vacation balances for the current year to next year, after the repercussions of Corona prevented them from being able to benefit from them.
Dubai government employees Ahmed Youssef, Iyad Ibrahim, Qusay Mahmoud, Aisha Ahmed said that the travel restrictions imposed by the Corona crisis, and the precautionary measures to limit infection, prevented them from obtaining the annual leave, demanding that the current year be excluded from obtaining the leave and allowing them to To carry it over to the next year.
Workers in the private sector, Muhammad al-Sharqawi, Ihab Muhammad, and Muhammad Abd al-Alim, stated that their employers had obligated them to exhaust their annual leave balance in full. And they demanded that companies be obligated to give their employees the freedom to choose whether to obtain leave or to deport it.
The department explained that the Dubai Government's Human Resources Management Law stipulates that the department encourages its employees to use the annual periodic leave. If the employee is not able to use his leave completely, due to the necessary work requirements, he must use at least half of his annual benefit from the periodic leave. It also stipulated that the general manager may allow the employee to carry over more than half of his entitlement from the periodic leave for any year, to the following year, in case the need for work necessitates not granting him his periodic leave for that year.
And she continued: “Based on the above, the issue of organizing periodic vacations for employees and approving them is an internal procedure that is organized in every organizational unit in the government entity, in a manner that does not affect the interest of work, bearing in mind that the department should encourage its employees to use their periodic leaves. Even during the current circumstances related to the emerging coronavirus (Covid-19), because the transfer of more than half of their entitlement from periodic leave to the following year will be for employees whose work conditions prevent them from using their periodic leaves due to work needs and conditions.
The executive regulations of the Federal Government's Human Resources Law regulated employee leave, so that the employee appointed to a permanent job is entitled to annual leave with a gross salary, and 30 working days for incumbents of jobs with a special grade (B) and above, and those of similar status. The employee may carry over half of the annual leave balance due to him to the following year. In this case, he does not benefit from what was added to that.
The law grants the employer the right to set the date for the start of the annual leave, and it can divide it into two periods at most, indicating that the legally prescribed holidays, by agreement, or any other periods due to illness, are considered part of the worker's annual leave if it breaks it.
Dubai Government Human Resources Department:
"The issue of organizing and approving periodic vacations for employees is an internal procedure in the government agency."