The New UAE Labour Law - What You Need to Know

Date Posted:Tue, 30th Nov 2021

The New UAE Labour Law - What You Need to Know

The UAE has issued Federal Law No.33 of 2021 (the New Law), which will come into force on 2 February 2022 and will repeal UAE Federal Law No.8 of 1980 (the Current Law).

 

Like the Current Law, the New Law will apply to all companies and employees in the private sector in the UAE, including its free zones, save for the Dubai International Financial Centre and the Abu Dhabi Global Market which implement their own employment laws.

The New Law introduces a number of unexpected changes. The rationale for some of the changes is not always clear and it is difficult to see how certain provisions will operate in practice, not least because much of the detail in the New Law has been outsourced to forthcoming "executive regulations". It is hoped that these executive regulations will clarify existing areas of uncertainty.

Nevertheless, there are a number of significant issues for affected employers to bear in mind and changes will need to be made to employment contracts, policies and practices.

We have summarised the key aspects of the New Law below, together with the main action points for employers.

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