Question: I want to take a four-week leave during the summer break, but my boss wants me to postpone it because of a staff shortage during the summer months. Can my boss reject my leave application based on this reasoning? Aren’t my annual leaves mine to take at my discretion, whenever I want?
Answer: Pursuant to your queries, it is assumed that you are employed by a mainland company in the United Arab Emirates. Therefore, the provisions of the UAE employment law and its ministerial and cabinet resolution are applicable.
In the UAE, it is at the discretion of an employer to decide on dates of annual leave of its employees on rotation based on the work requirements.
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This is in accordance with Article 29 (4) of Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Employment Relations (the ‘UAE Employment Law’) which states:
“The employee shall use his leave in the year of entitlement. The employer may fix the dates of leave according to the work requirements and in agreement with the employee, or rotate leaves among employees for the smooth progress of work, and shall notify the employee of the date of his leave at least (1) one month before the same.”
However, an employer is obligated to grant annual leave to an employee at least once in two years unless an employee agrees to carry forward the annual leave or get paid in lieu of leave by an employer. This is in accordance with Article 29(8) of the UAE Employment Law, which states:
“The employer may not prevent the employee from using his accrued annual leave for more than (2) two years unless the employee wants to carry it over or be paid in lieu of leave according to the establishment bylaws and as specified by the executive regulations of this Decree Law.”
Based on the aforementioned provisions of law, your employer may decline your annual leave due to work requirements.
Therefore, it is recommended that you may mutually agree your annual leave dates with your employer.
Ashish Mehta is the founder and Managing Partner of Ashish Mehta & Associates. He is qualified to practise law in Dubai, the United Kingdom and India. Full details of his firm on: www.amalawyers.com. Readers may e-mail their questions to: news@khaleejtimes.com or send them to Legal View, Khaleej Times, PO Box 11243, Dubai.
Source: Khaleej Times