UAE Annual Leave Entitlement

A reader from Dubai asks: I am an expatriate and have held a valid unlimited residents' visa as a mechanical engineer since November 2005. I would like clarification regarding leave — as stated in Article 75, chapter I1 of the UAE Labour Law. As it is mentioned, every worker shall, within each year of service, be granted a period of annual leave of no less than 30 days a year, where the workers' period of service is more than one year. How is it to be implemented, after completion of the first year of service — is there eligiblity for 30 days' annual leave. When is my second year’s annual leave due? Presently in our organisation it is after the first completion of 12 months' service.

If I avail of 30 days annual leave, my next eligibility for annual leave is due only after again completing 12 months of service, ie, the first 12 months plus one month of annual leave after completion of 12 months ie after 25 months my annual leave is due from the 26th month and so on.

My query is if the Article has specified, within each year of service ie after completion of my first year of service, am I eligible for my second annual leave on the 24th month of continuous service.

Further as our working hours are nine hours per day — 54 hours, even for management staff, is it legal as per the UAE Labour Law as it mentions it has to be 48 hours a week even though I work in a factory.

If it is 48 hours per week, the additional working hour per day amounts to more than 30 days a year ie 6 hours per week x 52 weeks excluding government declared holidays, I am availed of 30 days after completing every 12 months of service. So will it be my annual compensated accumulated leave?

As per article No 75 of the Federal Labour Law No 8 of 1980, concerning workers’ annual leave for 30 days and how to calculate this I would tell the questioner that a worker, at the beginning of his employment in the company, shall work for an entire 12 months and thus as per this article he shall be entitled to 30 days’ leave starting from the first of the 13th month.

As for the second year, the leave of such a worker shall start from the beginning of the 12th month, viz; the worker works in the second year for 11 months only and then he shall be granted annual leave. As for the question regarding the extra work hours and if it is possible to be calculated within the end-of-service gratuity, I would tell the questioner such extra work is to be compensated by being paid for such work and therefore overtime shall not be calculated within the end-of-service gratuity. As for the question on overtime in the factory, in accordance with the Labour Law, whether in terms of management or otherwise, the employer is entitled to request from the ministry that working hours are nine hours a day instead of eight hours as required by the factory. Therefore, such overtime should be paid.

Questions answered by Advocate Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba of Al Bahar Advocates and Legal Consultants

Criteria for obtaining a health card in Dubai

In order to obtain a residency visa and labour card, all expatriates are required to undergo a medical and blood test. Employers usually arrange for all the necessary paperwork.

If you are not covered by a company or private medical insurance, it is advisable to apply for a health card which entitles residents to low cost medical treatment at public hospitals and clinics. An application form can be collected from any public hospital then submitted (typed in Arabic), along with the correct documents to your local Health Care Center. The health card is valid for one year and can be renewed online.

Documents required:

Passport copy

Covering letter from sponsor

Visa application copy

2 passport size photographs

Completed application form

Fees

Citizens (card valid for 4 years)

0-9 Years - AED 25

10-17 Years - AED 50

18 Years and Above - AED 100

Non Citizens(card valid for 1 year)

0-9 Years - AED 100

10-17 Years - AED 200

17 Years and Above - AED 300

plus AED 200/- for medical examination

UAE regulator to ban BlackBerry from October

The UAE’s telecoms regulator has announced that BlackBerry services in the country will be suspended from 11 October this year.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said that the suspension was due to the failure of ongoing attempts since 2007 to bring BlackBerry services in the country in line with local regulations.

"With no solution available and in the public interest, in order to affect resolution of this issue, as of October 11, 2010, Blackberry Messenger, Blackberry Email and Blackberry Web-browsing services will be suspended until an acceptable solution can be developed and applied," said TRA director general Mohamed Al Ghanim.

"The TRA notes that Blackberry appears to be compliant in similar regulatory environments of other countries, which makes non-compliance in the UAE both disappointing and of great concern."

Telcos Etisalat and du were informed of the TRA’s decision on Sunday. They were also instructed to ensure minimal consumer disruption in the provision of alternative services.

In a statement, the UAE’s biggest telecoms provider, Etisalat, said that it “fully understands the legal and social considerations behind the decision."

The operator also announced that it “will soon be announcing a range of alternative mobility products and services for its BlackBerry products” without providing any further detail.

“All Blackberry services fall within the UAE regulatory framework developed by the TRA since 2007, however because of Blackberry's technical configuration, some Blackberry services operate beyond the enforcement of these regulations,” said a statement issued by the TRA.

“Blackberry data is immediately exported off-shore, where it is managed by a foreign, commercial organization. Blackberry data services are currently the only data services operating in the UAE where this is the case.

“Today's decision is based on the fact that, in their current form, certain Blackberry services allow users to act without any legal accountability, causing judicial, social and national security concerns for the UAE.”

Dubai plans special visa to attract entrepreneurs

Dubai is considering a plan to introduce a special visa system to lure foreign entrepreneurs to the emirate, a news report here has said. The EntrePass scheme would encourage budding start-ups with high commercial value to set up in Dubai, the report said.

In return, entrepreneurs will have their visa application expedited and they will also be provided with guidance from experts at the Mohammad Bin Rashid Establishment (MBRE) for SME Development in starting their businesses, the National newspaper said. "We want Dubai to be the centre for innovative small and medium enterprises [SMEs]," Alexandar Williams, the director of strategy and policy division at MBRE, told the newspaper. He said the future of Dubai rested on nurturing selective foreign entrepreneurs with good ideas, who could use them for development and build business around it.

Bahrain stepped up restrictions on walk-in visas as part of a crackdown on illegal immigrants

In addition to the new rules introduced earlier this year regarding on-the-spot entry permits for expatriates, walk-in visitors to the Kingdom are now also being asked more questions before they are allowed into the country, General Directorate of Nationality, Passports and Residence human and financial resources director Nayef Al Sherooqi told the Gulf Daily News (GDN) paper.

New rules were introduced earlier this year stating expatriate residents from GCC countries were no longer allowed on-the-spot entry permits unless they fell into senior management, professional or business categories, the daily said.Authorities said they were forced to restrict access because of cheats who use such visas to slip into Bahrain and stay on illegally, it added.

"This may have led to some nationals of countries who are allowed visas on arrival being turned away at Bahrain entry points," Al Sherooqi said."There is no change in the nationalities allowed in after getting visas on arrival but we are now asking questions under new rules that were implemented in February,” he told GDN."New rules are being enforced to keep a check on who enters Bahrain, rather than them just walking in."

As per the rules, visitors from 36 countries will be given walk-in visas by showing a return ticket, proof of enough money to cover their stay and a recognised address.

New questions visitors have to answer where they will be staying during their visit and if they have enough funds to support the length of their stay, GDN said,

They were earlier allowed in without those questions being asked, it added.According to Gulf Daily News, the 36 countries include Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Italy and Japan.

Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Russia, San Marino, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the UK, the US and the Vatican are also included."We are sure we are not rejecting any bona fide visitor," Al Sherooqi told the daily.