Decree No. (14) of 2017
Concerning
Maternity, Delivery, and Childcare Leave for
Female Employees of the Government of Dubai[1]
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We, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of
Dubai,
After perusal of:
Federal Law No. (5) of 1983 Concerning Nurseries;
Federal Law No. (7) of 1999 Issuing the Pension and Social Security Law
and its amendments;
Cabinet Resolution No. (19) of 2006 Concerning Nurseries at Ministries,
Public Authorities, Public Corporations, Government Departments, and Diwans;
Law No. (3) of 2003 Establishing the Executive Council of the Emirate of
Dubai;
Law No. (27) of 2006 Concerning Management of the Government of Dubai
Human Resources and its amendments;
Law No. (2) of 2014 Concerning Protection of the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities in the Emirate of Dubai;
Executive Council Resolution No. (15) of 2013 Regulating the Grant of
Work-related Allowances to Employees of the Government of Dubai;
Executive Council Resolution No. (27) of 2013 Regulating Part-time
Employment in the Government of Dubai; and
The human resources legislation applicable in Government Entities in the
Emirate of Dubai,
Do hereby issue this Decree.
For purposes
of this Decree, a “Government Entity” means any of the Government departments,
public agencies or corporations, councils, authorities, or other entities
affiliated to the Government of Dubai; and a “Female Employee” means a female
person who occupies a budgeted civil post in a Government Entity.
This Decree
will apply to:
1. Female
Employees working at Government Entities; and
2. any
maternity or delivery leave or nursing break which is granted to a Female
Employee before the effective date of this Decree but has not been fully
utilised.
a.
A Female Employee appointed to a permanent post on
a full-time or part-time basis will be entitled to ninety-day maternity leave
starting from the delivery date. A Female Employee may apply to start her
maternity leave up to thirty (30) days prior to the expected date of delivery,
provided that the leave is for
an uninterrupted period.
b.
Maternity leave may be combined with annual leave
and unpaid leave, on condition
that the aggregate period of leave may not exceed one hundred and twenty
(120) days from the beginning of the maternity leave.
A Female
Employee who suffers a miscarriage before the start of the twenty-fourth week of pregnancy will
be entitled to sick leave for a period to be determined based on a medical
report approved by the competent entity. Where a Female Employee gives birth to
a stillborn baby or suffers a miscarriage after the start of the twenty-fourth
week of pregnancy, she will be entitled to sixty-day delivery leave based on a
medical report approved by the competent entity.
a. A
Female Employee will be entitled to a two-hour paid daily break to nurse her baby. The nursing
break may be utilised at the beginning or at the end of official working hours. The period of entitlement to the nursing break
will be from the expiry date of the maternity leave to the date on which the baby
reaches one (1) year of age. A Female Employee will not be entitled to a
nursing break during the month of Ramadan.
b. A
Part-time Female Employee will be entitled to the nursing break referred to in
paragraph (a) of this Article, on
condition that her official working hours may not be reduced to less than five (5) hours.
Where a Female Employee gives birth to
a baby with disability, she will be granted childcare leave for the period from
the expiry date of the maternity leave to the date on which her baby reaches
one (1) year of age. Childcare leave may be extended for a period not exceeding
three (3) years based on a medical report approved by the competent entity and
pursuant to a resolution of the official in charge of the Government Entity or
his authorised representative.
a. A
Female Employee granted maternity, delivery, or childcare leave pursuant to
this Decree will be entitled to monthly salary throughout the period of the
leave. However, the Female Employee will not, throughout the leave period, be paid any bonus or
allowance related to
performing her employment duties,
such as Work-related Allowance, Mobile
Phone Allowance, or any other similar allowances.
b. Weekends
and official holidays
falling within maternity, delivery, or childcare leave will be deemed as part
of that leave. The leave period will be deemed as part of an Employee's period of service for all
purposes, including calculating air ticket and annual leave entitlement.
c. Maternity,
delivery, or childcare leave or any part thereof may not be carried forwarded
to the following year, and a Female Employee may not be paid cash in lieu
thereof.
Where the number
of children, under the age of four (4), of Female Employees of a Government
Entity reaches twenty (20) or more, a Nursery must be established at the
premises of that entity to provide care to these children. Where the number of
the children is less than twenty (20), more than one Government Entity may jointly
establish a Nursery to provide care to their Female Employees' children. Where
there is no space within its premises to be designated as a Nursery, a
Government Entity may contract with a nearby Nursery to provide such care.
a. Where
the maternity or delivery leave or period of entitlement to nursing break of a
Female Employee has not expired by the effective date of this Decree, her leave
or period of entitlement to break will be extended based on the difference
between the number of days already utilised and the number of days prescribed
by this Decree.
b. Where
the maternity or delivery leave or period of entitlement to nursing break of an
Employee has not expired before the effective date of this Decree, this leave
or period of entitlement to break will not be extended.
Any provision in any other legislation
will be repealed to the extent that it contradicts the provisions of this
Decree.
This Decree
will be published in the Official Gazette, and comes
into force on 1 March 2017.
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Ruler
of Dubai
Issued in Dubai on 15
April 2017
Corresponding
to 18 Rajab 1438 A.H.
©2017 The Supreme Legislation
Committee in the Emirate of Dubai
[1]Every effort
has been made to produce an accurate and complete English version of this
legislation. However, for the purpose of its interpretation and application,
reference must be made to the original Arabic text. In case of conflict the
Arabic text will prevail.