The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation revealed a number of amendments included in Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 regarding the regulation of labor relations, most notably converting work contracts to “fixed-term”, granting the worker “mourning” and “parental” leave and others, and allowing the payment of salary in UAE dirhams. or in another currency.
Its provisions were implemented as of the second of February of this year on all establishments, employers, and workers in the private sector in the country, and the decree-law was in 74 articles.
The most prominent amendments announced by the Ministry were that the decree-law specified one type of contract in terms of duration, which is a fixed-term contract of no more than three years, and it may be extended or renewed for similar or lesser periods by agreement of the two parties once or more, and the provisions of the decree-law apply to work contracts Unlimited period, concluded by Federal Law No. (8) of 1980.
It is decided to convert work contracts of indefinite duration to work contracts of a fixed period, by the conditions, controls, and procedures contained in the 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. While the text of Article (38) of Chapter One “Individual Employment Contract” in Chapter Three “Employment Contracts, Records and Wages”, in the Federal Law of 1980, is “The work contract is for an indefinite period or a specified period, and if its duration is specified, it must not exceed four years.” With the agreement of the two parties, this contract may be renewed for another similar period or for a shorter period one or more times. In the event of contract renewal, the new period or periods shall be considered an extension of the original period and shall be added to it in calculating the worker’s total service period.
The decree-law also included “granting the worker a paid day of rest, with the possibility of increasing the weekly rest days at the discretion of the facility, in addition to creating several 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 parental leave, and its duration Five days, and any other holidays determined by the Council of Ministers. While Article (70) of Chapter One included “Working Hours”, from Chapter Four “Working Hours and Leaves”, Friday is the normal weekly rest day for all workers, except for day laborers. Compensate him for another day of rest, or pay him the basic wage for normal working hours, plus an increase of at least 50% of that wage.
The ministry explained that the decree-law “allowed companies the option to pay wages in Emirati dirhams or another currency, by the agreement of the two parties in the work contract,” while Article (55) of Chapter Four “Wages”, in Chapter Three, “Work contracts, records, and wages,” from Federal Law 1980, provided that “wages shall be paid on one of the working days, and in its place, in the legally circulated national currency.”
