Sick Leave in the UAE: What the Labour Law Says

Sick leave is simple to state and easy to get wrong. The law gives a clear allowance, split into full pay, half pay and unpaid days, but the payroll has to follow each employee through it day by day, across the whole year. This guide sets out the current rules for the UAE mainland private sector and what an employer has to record to apply them.

Who these rules cover

The rules come from Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, the UAE labour law, and its executive regulations, Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022. They apply to private-sector employees on the mainland in every emirate. The DIFC and ADGM free zones, the government sector and domestic workers have their own rules.

How much sick leave the law gives

After probation, an employee can take up to 90 days of sick leave a year, in one stretch or in parts (Article 31):

Days of sick leave in the year	Pay
The first 15 days	Full pay
The next 30 days	Half pay
The remaining 45 days	Unpaid

The pay steps run across the year, not per illness. An employee who has already taken 15 days in March moves onto half pay for the next sick day, even if it is a different illness in June. That is why the running total, not the current absence, decides the pay.

Telling the employer, and the medical report

An employee who is ill must tell the employer within three working days and provide a medical report from the medical body that treated them. The report is what the law relies on to treat the absence as sick leave. Employers should say in writing how they want to be told and where the report goes, so a missed message is never the reason a genuine sick day goes unpaid.

Sick leave during probation

There is no paid sick leave during probation. The employer may grant unpaid sick leave on the strength of a medical report. For the rest of the probation rules, including notice on either side, see our guide to probation and replacement rules in the UAE.

When sick leave is not paid

Sick leave is unpaid when the illness results from the employee's own misconduct. The executive regulations give examples, such as drinking alcohol, taking drugs or breaking the workplace safety rules, and the misconduct must be proved by an official report. An employer cannot simply decide an illness was self-inflicted.

Dismissal, and what happens after 90 days

The UAE Government portal states that an employee cannot be dismissed or given notice while on sick leave. If an employee uses all 90 days and still cannot return to work, the law allows the employer to end the contract, paying all of the employee's dues, including the end-of-service gratuity.

What employers need in place

A running total for every employee. The full-pay, half-pay and unpaid steps depend on how many sick days the employee has already taken in the year. A leave record that counts them as they are taken, and warns before the 90th day, is the only reliable way to pay each day correctly.

Leave and payroll in one place. Half-pay and unpaid days have to reach the payslip in the month they fall. Wages, including half pay, still go through the Wage Protection System, so the record behind them should be the same one the payroll reads.

Medical reports kept with the record. A report is what makes a day sick leave rather than absence. Keeping it with the leave entry means a later dispute is settled by the file, not by memory.

A process for long illness. When an employee is away for weeks, someone needs to keep in touch, plan cover and know the dates on which the pay changes. A temporary hire can carry the role while the employee recovers.

For the rest of the leave rules, see annual leave in the UAE and maternity and parental leave, and for the wider picture, our UAE labour law guide for employers.

The bottom line

After probation, UAE private-sector employees can take up to 90 days of sick leave a year: 15 on full pay, 30 on half pay and the rest unpaid, with notice within three working days and a medical report. During probation there is no paid sick leave. For an employer, the hard part is not the rule but the running total behind it.

When tamdeed runs the employment administration for a company that sponsors its own staff, leave and payroll sit on one platform, so the pay for each sick day follows the employee's total for the year automatically. See how tamdeed runs PEO in the UAE, or for a company with no UAE entity, employer of record.

Sources: Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, Article 31; Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022, Article 20; the UAE Government portal's guidance on types of leave in the private sector. This guide is general information, not legal advice; confirm your own case with MOHRE or a qualified adviser.

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