Abu Dhabi Extends Paid Maternity Leave to 90 Days: What You Need to Know

On 1st of September, 2024, Abu Dhabi will implement an amendment in the maternity leave policy extending the paid maternity leave to 90 days for certain private sector workers. This is in a way a welcome development in employment law which goes a long way in indicating the political commitment of the emirate to ensure that employees are able to blend work and family responsibilities better, particularly working mothers. From the employment lawyers’ perspective, it is important to know the relevance of this regulation with respect to the previous laws and how it facilitates the culture in the workplace for everyone to be more fair and supportive.

Maternity Leave Law before Current One

According to the old UAE Labor Law, private sector workers were eligible to avail superannuation paid maternity leave lasting up to 45 days for their first child if they had worked for the same employer continuously for a year. If an employee had served for less than one year, she was entitled to half pay during her maternity leave. In addition the law also allowed the woman an extra 100 days of time out but without pay provided the mother had every other reason excluding her baby from an operation on her abdomen.

While this earlier provision was progressive in the eyes of many across the world, other stakeholders, particularly the employees and advocacy groups, considered it inadequate. Most mothers found the 45-day period after childbirth and before going back to work too short when they were working without access to fund such financial needs of a baby. Moreover, there was a widespread perception that the short period of fully paid leave disadvantaged workplace gender parity because it usually created a dilemma for women between their work and family life.

New 90-Day Maternity Leave Law

This regulation, which comes into force on 1st September 2024, adds a further type of maternity benefit replacing sickness which allows up to 90 days paid maternity for certain categories of private employees working in Abu Dhabi. This unlimited conveyance extends regardless of the length of service of the employee who is in active service, so that all qualifying mothers are entitled to full pay during leave.

This change makes private sector employees’ maternity leave benefits more proportions to the public sector where 90 days of paid maternity leave has been awarded to female government workers. Abu dhabi may be providing this extended leave in recognition of mothers’ important positions in the workplace as well as in the home, thus making life a little easier for them during the difficult months postpartum.

The Significance of the Modern Maternity Leave Law

Promoting Gender Equality: An issuance of the new law particularly aims to enhance workplace gender equity. Because of the extended maternity leave in Abu Dhabi, women can bear their familial responsibilities while being active in the workplace, creating an equal sociocultural environment. This modification assists in the breaking down of the myth that only women can take care of the children and seek to provide employers with the vision of the future career of their female employees.

Improving Employee Satisfaction: Fair treatment happens at an organization where maternity leave is stretched to not less than 90 days and to a new mother. This enables a mother to recuperate from the effects of childbirth and to interact with her newborn adequately. This is very important for the new mothers’ and actually new borns’ physical and mental health. This extra time also reduces depression and anxiety that would occur in most women after having babies contributing to a good balance of work and family and less long term absenteeism.

Economic and Social Impact: The law therefore encourages working mothers making them contribute to the economic objectives of Abu Dhabi. It makes sure that all women who wish to combine family and work are able to do so by not having to leave jobs because they do not have enough maternity cover and hence the loss of talent and skills to the economy. Such retention of skills is beneficial in that it not only advances the companies but also the general level of productivity and economic development.

Embracing International Best Practices: The increasing duration of maternity leave has seen Abu Dhabi taken aback as one of the countries that cares for its employees. It is also within the framework of the labor compliance and best practices existing in the more developed countries thus boosting the image of the emirate as a well advanced and supportive environment for working mothers. This practice is expected to make the region attractive to more foreign companies and professionals further making Abu Dhabi an essential center of business activities in the world.

Legal Implication and Employers’ Duty: For employers, the new law means looking at existing human resource policies to make sure that compliance is achievable. Employers are going to need to make modifications to employee handbooks, contracts, maternity policies so that the new provisions on maternity leave are included in the documentation. However, there are adverse effects as employment lawyers will become essential in consultations pushing companies through this transition incorporating not the pain of doing things the wrong way but a finesse of best practices with the new laws.

The move by Abu Dhabi to increase the maternity leave to 90 days now applies for private sector employees is a very laudable step in assisting working mothers, addressing gender issues, and improving the welfare of families as a whole. This policy is not only consistent with other advanced nations but also adheres to the emirs strategy of enhancing a fair and reasonable workplace. We, as employment lawyers, must learn to interpret all these changes and their implications, guide our clients appropriately and promote appropriate policies that will continue enjoying the fundamental rights of the workers as well as their welfare.

The praise of the law cites it as a departure from the radical transformation of the same area by the claimed and even to concern such changes in other areas of increasing and establishing private sector maternity leave within the region as the yardstick of maternity policies.