UAE Maternity Leave: What Mothers Are Legally Entitled to and What Employers Must Do When Leave is Requested

Maternity leave is a statutory employment right for women working in the UAE private sector. An employer cannot simply refuse maternity leave because of business requirements, staffing difficulties or the employee’s length of service. The entitlement is governed by Article 30 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations, as amended, and applies to female employees in establishments covered by the UAE private-sector employment law.

 

Under the current law, a female employee is entitled to 60 days of maternity leave. The first 45 days are paid at full wage, while the following 15 days are paid at half wage. The entitlement is not dependent on completing a particular period of service, and Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) guidance confirms that maternity leave is available even where the employee is within her probationary period.

 

When Can Maternity Leave Begin?

 

The law gives an employee flexibility over when she starts her maternity leave. An employer must grant maternity leave upon the employee’s request at any time beginning from the last day of the month immediately preceding the month in which she is expected to give birth. The expected date of delivery must be supported by a medical certificate issued by the relevant medical entity.

 

The UAE Government’s official guidance similarly states that a female employee may apply for maternity leave up to 30 days before the expected date of delivery. This means that an employer cannot insist that the employee continue working until the date of childbirth if she has properly requested her statutory leave and provided the required medical documentation.

 

What If Pregnancy or Childbirth Causes Medical Complications?

 

The law provides additional protection where pregnancy or childbirth results in illness affecting the employee or her child.

 

After using the 60 days of maternity leave, the employee may take up to 45 additional days of unpaid leave, either continuously or intermittently, where she or her child is suffering from an illness resulting from pregnancy or childbirth and she is unable to return to work. The condition must be established through a medical certificate issued by the appropriate medical entity.

 

There is also additional protection where a child is born sick or with a disability and requires a constant companion. In such circumstances, the mother may receive a further 30 days of fully paid leave following maternity leave, with the possibility of extending this by another 30 days without pay, subject to the prescribed medical evidence.

 

The law also recognises the needs of mothers after they return to work. For up to six months from the date of delivery, a female employee is entitled to one or two breaks each day to breastfeed her child, provided the total duration of those breaks does not exceed one hour. These breaks are part of the employee's paid working time.

 

Can an Employer Dismiss an Employee Because She is Pregnant or Takes Maternity Leave?

 

No. One of the important protections under Article 30 is that an employer may not terminate a female employee’s service or give her notice of termination because of her pregnancy, because she is taking maternity leave, or because she is absent from work in accordance with the maternity-leave provisions.

 

This protection is significant because maternity rights extend beyond the payment of salary during leave. An employer cannot lawfully treat pregnancy or the employee’s exercise of her statutory maternity rights as a reason to end her employment.

 

At the same time, the protection should not be interpreted as an absolute prohibition on termination in every circumstance. Employment may be terminated for lawful reasons unrelated to pregnancy or maternity leave, subject to the requirements of the UAE Labour Law. The key issue in a dispute may therefore be whether the termination was genuinely based on a lawful reason or was connected to the employee’s pregnancy or exercise of her maternity rights.

 

What Should an Employee Do If Maternity Leave is Refused?

 

If an employer refuses to provide maternity leave, withholds the statutory maternity pay or otherwise interferes with the employee’s rights, the employee may raise the matter with MoHRE.

 

The UAE Labour Law provides a formal mechanism for resolving disputes between employers and employees. Under Article 54, a worker who has a dispute with an employer concerning employment rights may submit a request to the Ministry. MoHRE examines the complaint and attempts to resolve the dispute amicably.

 

Employees should keep relevant evidence, including the employment contract, maternity-leave request, medical certificate, correspondence with the employer, salary records and any written refusal or notice issued by the company. Such records can help establish what was requested, when it was requested and how the employer responded.

 

If the dispute cannot be resolved through MoHRE’s process, it may be referred to the competent court for determination. The court can consider whether the employee’s statutory rights were breached and determine the financial or other remedies available under the law.

 

What Penalties Can an Employer Face?

 

It is important to distinguish between the employee’s right to claim her contractual and statutory entitlements and the administrative or legal penalties that may apply to an employer for labour-law violations.

 

The UAE Labour Law contains a specific penalties framework, which was amended by Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2024. The amended provisions increased certain labour-market fines, including penalties of between Dh100,000 and Dh1 million for specified serious violations such as employing workers without the required permits, using work permits for improper purposes, or closing an establishment without following procedures for settling workers’ rights.

 

However, these figures should not be presented as an automatic fine specifically for refusing maternity leave. The applicable penalty depends on the nature of the violation established by the competent authority and the provisions breached. An employee should therefore avoid assuming that a maternity-leave dispute automatically attracts a particular fixed fine.

 

The more immediate legal issue is that an employer covered by the UAE Labour Law must respect the statutory maternity entitlement and cannot penalise an employee because she exercises the rights provided under Article 30.

 

What Working Mothers Should Know

 

For women employed in the UAE private sector, maternity leave is not simply a benefit that an employer may grant at its discretion. It is a statutory entitlement.

 

The basic entitlement is 60 days: 45 days on full pay and 15 days on half pay. Additional unpaid leave may be available where pregnancy or childbirth causes qualifying medical conditions, while further paid and unpaid leave may apply where a child is sick or has a disability requiring a constant companion.

 

Employees should also remember that the rules differ between the private and public sectors. Federal government employees, for example, are entitled to 90 days of fully paid maternity leave, while local government employees may be governed by separate rules.

 

For a private-sector employee in Dubai or elsewhere in the UAE, therefore, an employer cannot lawfully refuse maternity leave merely because it is inconvenient for the business. Where an employee believes her statutory rights have been denied, the appropriate course is to document the issue and raise a formal labour complaint with MoHRE, followed, where necessary, by referral to the competent court.

 
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