Promotes attracting the best talent and future skills

The President of the State issues a Federal Decree-Law Regulating Labor Relations

• Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Awar: “The law responds to the requirements of the fifty-year vision and to the changes in the world of work.”

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His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, issued a Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 regulating labor relations. Its provisions shall apply as of February 2, 2022 to all establishments, employers and workers in the private sector in the country, and the law is scheduled to be terminated. Federal No. 8 of 1980 regarding the regulation of labor relations as of the date of entry into force of the new law decree.

The Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation, Dr. Abdul Rahman Al Awar, said during a media briefing organized by the ministry yesterday in Dubai, that the changes that have occurred in the world during the past period are great, especially technological developments that have become the language of the times, which has strengthened competition in the global labor market, which calls for modification and change. In the organized procedures, and achieving flexibility to keep pace with changes and to regulate the labor market better than before.

He stressed that the flexibility of transition in the labor market achieves a balance between the two sides of the labor relationship, and attracts professional cadres of citizens, explaining that the law, with its new amendments, sets controls and standards in the regulations for the transition.

He pointed out that the creation of work patterns is part of the flexibility of the law, including part-time work, so that the worker can work for more than one employer at the same time.

Al-Awar said that the decree-law is considered the largest update in the law regulating labor relations in the state in preparation for the next fifty-year stage through a system of future laws and legislation that respond to the requirements of this important stage of the state’s history, and to optimally deal with the changes in the world of work at the same time.

He explained during the briefing that the new law aims to ensure the efficiency of the labor market, which enhances the attraction and preservation of the best competencies and future skills from employment in parallel with providing a stimulating and attractive work environment for employers, which would support efforts made to achieve development goals with the active participation of both parties to the work relationship.

He said that the decree-law guarantees the rights of the two parties to the work relationship in a balanced manner and provides protection for both parties so that they can access and obtain these rights, pointing out that the law confirms the international labor obligations agreed upon by the UAE.

Al-Awar explained that the law also supports the capabilities and skills of workers in the private sector in a way that enhances the efficiency and productivity of the workforce in the labor market in the country, in parallel with emphasizing equality in obtaining or continuing a job and enjoying its rights.

He affirmed the law's support for efforts to enhance the competitiveness of Emirati cadres in the labor market, as well as empowering women in the market.

In response to media questions, he said that the executive regulations are currently being prepared to regulate the practices of implementing the provisions of the decree-law, explaining that the decree gives flexibility to the Council of Ministers by granting it a package of competencies that will keep pace with current and future developments, which will enhance the speed of response to labor market changes.

Among the most prominent new amendments in the law is the creation of new types of work that allow employers to meet their labor needs and benefit from their energies and productivity at the lowest operating costs, through part-time work, temporary work and flexible work in parallel with providing several options for employers to employ workers whose contracts have expired and whose existing and existing contracts in the country through easy and flexible procedures.

Part-time allows work for an employer or employers for a specified number of working hours, or days designated for work, and temporary work is work whose nature of implementation requires a specific period or focuses on a work in itself and ends with its completion, and flexible work is work whose performance hours or working days change. Depending on the size of the work and the economic and operational variables with the employer, the worker may work for the employer at changing times according to the conditions and requirements of the work, in addition to full-time, which is the current prevailing pattern in the labor market, where the worker works for one employer for the entire daily working hours throughout the working days.

The executive regulations of the law will specify the conditions and controls of work patterns and the obligations of both the worker and the employer, in terms of end-of-service benefits and the interest of both parties to the work contract.

The law provided companies with the option to pay wages in UAE dirhams or in another currency according to the agreement of the two parties in the employment contract.

The decree-law also allows the employer to require the worker in the work contract not to compete with him or to participate in any competing project in the same sector, if the work entrusted to the worker allows him to know the employer’s clients or access his work secrets, provided that The condition is specified in terms of time, place and type of work to the extent necessary to protect legitimate business interests, and the period of non-competition shall not exceed two years from the date of contract expiry, in accordance with what is specified in the executive regulations of the decree.

The decree-law defines one type of contract in terms of duration, which is a fixed-term contract of no more than three years. With the agreement of the two parties, this contract may be extended or renewed for similar or lesser periods once or more.

The provisions of the Decree-Law shall apply to employment contracts of indefinite duration concluded in accordance with the aforementioned Federal Law No. (8) of 1980.

It is decided to convert work contracts of indefinite duration into work contracts of a fixed period, in accordance with the conditions, controls and procedures contained in this Decree-Law within a year from the date of its entry into force, and the Council of Ministers may extend this period for other periods as required by the public interest.

The amendments, which aimed to enhance an attractive and stable work environment for workers in the private sector, emphasized granting the worker a paid rest day with the possibility of increasing the weekly rest days according to the establishment’s discretion, in addition to introducing a number of vacations for the worker, including mourning leave ranging from three to five days, according to the degree of the deceased’s relatives. In addition to the five-day parental leave and any other leaves determined by the Council of Ministers.

The law mandates the employer to bear the fees and costs of recruitment and employment and not to collect them from the worker, either directly or indirectly.

The law stipulates that the employee’s official documents shall not be seized and that the employer shall not force him to leave the country after the end of the work relationship, allowing the worker to move him to another facility and benefit from it in the labor market, in addition to the worker’s right to receive his wages on their due dates according to the regulations approved in the Ministry. And the conditions, controls and procedures specified in the executive regulations of this Decree-Law. The decree-law permits the worker, in the event of the termination of the work contract in accordance with the provisions of this decree, to move to work for another employer, and also specifies a probationary period of no more than six months, in accordance with the conditions and procedures determined by the executive regulations. The amendments included a provision according to which the citizen worker is entitled to an end-of-service gratuity upon the end of his service, in accordance with the legislation regulating pensions and social security in force in the country.It also emphasized the entitlement of a foreign worker who works according to a full-time work pattern, and who has completed a year or more in continuous service, an end-of-service gratuity upon the end of his service, calculated according to the basic wage, at the rate of 21 days’ wages for each year of the first five years of service and 30 days’ wages for Each year in addition to that, while the decree-law entrusted the executive regulations with determining the mechanism for regulating the end-of-service gratuity for foreign workers in work patterns other than the full-time work pattern.

The decree-law exempted labor cases from judicial fees in all stages of litigation, execution and requests made by workers or their heirs, the value of which does not exceed 100,000 dirhams.

Prohibition of discrimination, bullying and verbal violence against the worker

The decree-law, which includes 74 articles, expressly stipulated in the amendments it made to the law to be implemented as of February 2, 2022, that the employer may not use any means that would force or force the worker or threaten him with any penalty to work for him or Forcing him to do an act or provide a service against his will.

It also prohibits sexual harassment, bullying, or any verbal, physical or psychological violence against the worker by the employer, his superiors at work, his colleagues, or those working with him.

It also prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, social origin, or disability among persons, which would weaken equal opportunities or prejudice equality in obtaining or continuing a job and enjoying its rights, as well as prohibiting discrimination in work related The same job tasks, while the rules and procedures that would enhance the participation of the citizens of the country in the labor market are not considered discrimination.

• Several options for employers to hire workers whose work contracts have expired and who are in the country.

• The new law gave companies the option to pay wages in dirhams or in another currency according to the agreement of the two parties.

• The law mandates the employer to bear the fees and cost of recruitment and employment.

• The law allows the worker to move to another facility after the end of the work relationship.

• Part-time, temporary and flexible work is the most prominent amendment to the law, allowing employers to meet their needs at the lowest costs.

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