UAE Employees Can Combine Compensatory Leave With Annual Leave Only With Employer Nod, Company Policy

Employees in the UAE who work on public holidays may be entitled to compensatory leave or additional pay under the country’s employment law. However, whether those compensatory days can be attached to annual leave to extend a holiday depends largely on the employer’s leave policy and its agreement with the employee.

 

Under the UAE’s Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Employment Relations, annual leave and compensatory leave arising from work on public holidays are treated as separate entitlements. The law does not contain a specific provision giving employees an automatic right to combine compensatory days with their annual leave.

 

For employees working for mainland private-sector companies in Dubai and other emirates, the timing of annual leave is generally determined by the employer according to operational requirements, although it may also be agreed upon between the employer and employee.

 

Annual Leave Dates

 

Article 29 of the Employment Law sets out the rules governing annual leave. An employer may determine the dates on which an employee takes annual leave, taking into account work requirements and, where applicable, agreement with the employee.

 

The employer must notify the employee of the scheduled annual leave dates at least one month before the leave is due to begin. This requirement allows employees to plan their time away from work while also enabling employers to manage staffing and operational needs.

 

The number of annual leave days available to an employee is determined according to the employee’s length of service and the applicable provisions of the Employment Law. Annual leave therefore remains a statutory entitlement, but its timing is subject to the applicable workplace arrangements.

 

Public Holiday Entitlement

 

Public holidays are governed separately under Article 28 of the Employment Law. Employees are entitled to full pay for official public holidays announced for the private sector by the competent authorities.

 

The UAE announces public holidays for the private sector through the relevant authorities, including the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE). Employees who are entitled to a public holiday should receive their normal remuneration for the day.

 

The position is different where an employee is required to work during an official public holiday.

 

In such circumstances, Article 28(2) provides for compensation in the form of another day off or payment for the normal working day together with an additional amount of at least 50 per cent of the employee’s basic wage.

 

This compensatory entitlement is intended to recognise work performed on a public holiday. It does not, however, expressly state that the resulting day off must or may automatically be added to annual leave.

 

Combining Different Types Of Leave

 

The Employment Law contains specific provisions dealing with different categories of leave, but it does not expressly establish a general right for employees to combine compensatory leave earned for working on public holidays with annual leave.

 

Consequently, an employee who has accumulated compensatory days cannot necessarily insist that those days be placed immediately before or after annual leave simply because both are forms of time away from work.

 

The arrangement may instead depend on the employer’s leave procedures, internal regulations and operational requirements.

 

An employee planning a longer break by attaching compensatory days to annual leave should therefore discuss the proposed dates with the employer or human resources department in advance. If the employer agrees, the different leave entitlements may be scheduled consecutively, subject to the company’s applicable rules.

 

Company Policies

 

Internal workplace regulations can play an important role in determining how leave is administered.

 

Article 13(3) of the Employment Law requires employers to establish internal work regulations covering matters including work instructions, sanctions, promotions, benefits and other internal rules, subject to the requirements of the law and its Executive Regulations.

 

Where an employer has adopted an employee handbook or HR policy dealing with annual leave, public holidays and compensatory leave, employees should check those provisions before making leave arrangements.

 

A company policy may establish procedures that allow different leave entitlements to be taken consecutively, provided those arrangements comply with the Employment Law.

 

The law also permits employers to introduce benefits and programmes that are more favourable to employees than the minimum statutory requirements. Article 65(4) provides that where an employer’s regulations or programmes offer more beneficial conditions to employees, those more favourable conditions may apply in the event of a conflict with the statutory provisions.

 

This means that an employer may provide employees with more favourable leave arrangements than the minimum rights established by law.

 

Employer Approval Matters

 

For an employee holding compensatory days earned from working on public holidays, the safest approach is to obtain confirmation from the employer before treating those days as an extension of annual leave.

 

For example, an employee who has five days of annual leave and two compensatory days cannot automatically assume that the seven days can be taken together merely because the compensatory days have already been earned. The employer may need to approve the combined period and ensure that it is consistent with internal leave procedures and operational requirements.

 

Where the company’s HR policy expressly permits compensatory leave to be combined with annual leave, an employee may rely on that provision, subject to the applicable procedures for requesting and approving leave.

 

Conversely, where the policy is silent, employees should not assume that the combination is an automatic statutory entitlement. An agreement with the employer may be required.

 

Leave Planning

 

Employees should also distinguish between a statutory entitlement to leave and the employer’s authority to organise when that leave is taken.

 

Compensatory leave earned for working on public holidays arises because the employee performed work when the employee would otherwise have been entitled to the public holiday. Annual leave, meanwhile, is a separate statutory entitlement intended to provide employees with paid rest.

 

Although both ultimately provide time away from work, the Employment Law does not expressly require an employer to allow the two types of leave to be combined.

 

Employees planning extended breaks should therefore submit their requests sufficiently early, identify the compensatory days separately from annual leave and obtain written confirmation from HR or the employer regarding the approved dates.

 

This approach can help avoid disputes over whether particular days were treated as annual leave, compensatory leave or another category of leave.

 

More Favourable Benefits

 

The absence of an express statutory provision requiring compensatory leave to be combined with annual leave does not prevent an employer from offering such an arrangement.

 

Where an employer’s internal regulations, employment contract or established benefits provide employees with more favourable leave conditions, those provisions may operate in the employee’s favour, provided they comply with the applicable UAE employment legislation.

 

Accordingly, an employee who wants to extend an annual holiday using compensatory days should first examine the company’s HR policy and then seek approval for the proposed dates.

 

The UAE Employment Law guarantees compensation for employees required to work on public holidays, including compensatory leave or the applicable additional payment. However, it does not expressly create an automatic right to attach those compensatory days to annual leave.

 

The practical position, therefore, is that combining the two can be possible where the employer’s policy allows it or the employer agrees to the arrangement. Employees should not treat the combination as an automatic statutory entitlement unless their employment terms or workplace rules provide for it.