Working hours and leave in the UAE: what the law actually says

Hours, the weekly rest day, Ramadan, annual and sick leave under UAE labour law, and your right to carry leave over or take payment in lieu.

Many workers know their salary exactly and have no idea how much leave they are owed, so they take what they are given and assume they got their due. These figures are set in law, and knowing them means knowing when a right is being withheld rather than a favour granted.

Working hours

**Eight hours a day** and **48 hours a week** as the private-sector maximum.
At least one **paid** rest day every week.
During **Ramadan**, working hours are reduced by **two hours a day**.
Travel between home and the workplace is not usually counted as working time.

Overtime carries a premium — not less than **25%** on the ordinary hourly wage, rising in certain cases such as night hours. If you work extra hours at ordinary rates, you are giving up a difference you are owed.

Annual leave — and the figure most people miss

Your right to annual leave begins to accrue after **six months** of service, not after a year as is often said.

**30 days** for each full year of service.
**Two days per month** where service exceeds six months but is under a year.
And you accrue leave for the **part-year** worked before your service ends — do not let it lapse when you leave.

Carry-over and payment in lieu

You may carry over **no more than half** your annual leave into the following year, or agree with the employer on **payment in lieu**, calculated on the wage you were receiving at the time.

This matters for anyone working far from family: some workers defer leave for years assuming it all accumulates, then find what may be carried over is capped. **Plan your leave rather than banking it indefinitely.**

Sick leave

Sick leave runs up to **90 days a year** once probation has passed, and it is not paid in full throughout — pay steps down in stages until part of it is unpaid. If you fall seriously ill, ask which split applies to you rather than being surprised by the payslip.

You are generally required to notify the employer within a short period of stopping work and to produce a medical report from an approved provider. So do not delay the notification even from a hospital bed — have someone report it for you.

What to do in practice

Ask for a statement of your leave balance once a year and keep it.
Record your actual hours if you regularly work overtime.
Check your contract: does it state leave and hours at figures matching the law, or below them?
A contract term giving you less than the law provides is open to challenge — the law is a floor, not a ceiling for negotiation.
When your service ends, calculate your unused leave and claim payment for it among your entitlements.

This is general information; rules change and details differ by sector and free zone. Check the current text through official sources or the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation before basing a claim on it.

Rules and fees change and differ by country and employer. Always check with the official authorities before paying or signing anything.