New UAE Labor Law : Maximum Work Hours, Consecutive Working Hours & Overtime Calculation

The new UAE Labor Law or Federal Law no. 33 has explicitly described all aspects of employment for all UAE companies. It concentrates on the employment relationship between the employee and the employer in the UAE. The purpose of introducing the new labour law is to increase the efficiency of the UAE labour market by making it a secure and productive work or business destination. The new labour law focuses on the rights of employees such as determining working hours, constructive working hours, and calculation of their wages according to the most acceptable WPS payroll processing system. The federal law no. 33 is a complete guide for employers which makes them comprehend UAE employment regulations easily. If you want to learn about the labour law regulations on working hours, constructive and overtime working hours then you are at the right place.

Maximum Working Hours As Per The Labour Law

Following is all the new labour law of 2021 has explained about the maximum working hour for an employee in an organization in the UAE whose wage shall be calculated with WPS payroll processing;

• According to the provisions of the new labour law, an employee can work in a company for a maximum of 8 hours in a single day. An employee cannot work for more than 48 hours in a single week as per the provisions about maximum working hours.
• The Ministry has the right to change the limit of working hours for different categories of employees in the UAE. The Ministry can decrease or increase the number of hours an employee can work in a single day as well as the number and duration of breaks in a day. The Ministry can also describe hours for employees during which they cannot work.
• Excluding a few categories of employees, the working hours for most employees will not include the time in which they travel from their residence to the workplace or from the workplace to the residence. The excluded category of employees will depend on the decision of the Ministry which will be according to the type of job.
• The general working hours explained in the new labour law will remain the same during Ramadan as per the provisions of this legislation.
• The employees need to agree on the working hours at the time of contract making. The employees will only work during the working hours as agreed in the employment contract regardless of the working hours explained in this legislation if they are less than 8 hours a day. The employer cannot force the employee to work more than the set working hours even if they are less than 8 hours in a single day.
• Employees that work remotely from different locations or work from home will need specific working hours that the employer needs to specify in the employment contract.
• No employer can force his employees to work more than the maximum working hours described by the new labour law in any situation.

Read More : WPS Registration Process in UAE.

Consecutive Work Hours As Per The Labour Law

Following is all the new labour law UAE has detailed about the consecutive work hours for employees working in UAE companies;

• Consecutive hours are those working hours during which the employees do not take any break.  According to the provisions of the new labour law, the limit of constructive work hours cannot exceed 5 hours maximum.
• If breaks of less than an hour are given between working hours to the employees, these hours will be considered constructive hours according to the new labour law. A break from work will only be considered a break if it lasts for at least an hour.
• The employer needs to arrange breaks between working hours according to the type of job the employee is performing i.e, some jobs need a single break in total working hours, and some need more than one break. This depends on the category of employees.

Overtime As Per The Labour Law

Following is all the federal law no. 33 has described overtime working hours for employees working in the UAE whose wage shall be calculated with WPS payroll processing;

• The federal legislation on labour regulation allows over time of maximum 2 hours in a single day for employees who want to work more than the basic working hours.
• The employer is allowed to encourage the employees to work overtime for which their wages will be added to the WPS payroll.
• Employees can work overtime for a maximum of 2 hours in a single day. Moreover, the number of hours should not increase from 144 hours in 21 days.
• The wage of the employee for overtime as per WPS payroll processing should be in accordance with the casual working hours. According to the provisions of the new labour law, there should be an increase of at least 25% of the wage for overtime in addition to the basic wage per working hour.
• For those employees who can manage to work overtime from 10 p.m. midnight to 4 a.m. in the morning, the increase of at least 50% of wage for overtime in addition to the basic wage per working hour is mandatory as per the new labour law. This only applies to employees who work constantly rather than in shifts.
• The employers cannot force the employees to work overtime for more than 2 weekend days.

Read More : All things to know about WPS(Wage Protection System) Payroll.

Choose the Best Services

If you found this information helpful, visit our website to know more about the new labour law and other employment regulations in the UAE. You can learn more about the rights of employers and employees by visiting us. Contact our experts if you are interested in the WPS payroll service in the UAE. We provide the best outsourcing services in the whole UAE. We have field experts that perform your outsourced functions with great accuracy and efficiency. You can have the best outsourcing experience in the UAE by choosing us. Get all of your queries answered by reaching out to our experts at hand.