Are you employing Juveniles? What you need to know!

Employment of Juveniles as per UAE Labour Law!

As per the Chapter II Section 2 Article 20 of UAE Labour Law It is prohibited to employ a juvenile of either sex before he/she completes fifteen years .

As per the Chapter II Section 2 Article 21 of UAE Labour Law Before employing a juvenile, employer must obtain copies of the following documents from him/her and retain them in the juvenile’s personal file:

1. A birth certificate or an age estimation certificate issued by a competent medical officer and endorsed by the competent Health Authorities.

2. A duly attested certificate issued by a competent medical officer certifying that juvenile is medically fit for the job.

3. A written consent signed by the juvenile’s guardian, or custodian.

As per the Chapter II Section 2 Article 22 of UAE Labour Law, the Employer shall keep a special register of juvenile at the work premises showing  his/her name, full name guardian or custodian, place of residence, date of employment.

As per the Chapter II Section 2 Article 23 of UAE Labour Law, juveniles may not be employed at night in industrial projects. The term “night” refers to  a period of not less than twelve consecutive hours including the period from 8 p.m to 6 a.m. 

As per the Chapter II Section 2 Article 24 of UAE Labour Law, juveniles may not be employed in jobs which are considered hazardous, exhausting or detrimental to health as may be decided by the Minister of Labour after consulting with the competent authorities.

As per the Chapter II Section 2 Article 25 of UAE Labour Law, the maximum number of actual working hours for juveniles shall be six hours per day. During working hours one or more break times should be given for rest, meals or prayer purposes provided that such time should not be less than one hour. Such time or times have to be determined in a way that juveniles may not work consecutively over four hours. A juvenile may not remain continuously over seven hours at the place of work.

As per the Chapter II Section 2 Article 26 of UAE Labour Law, under no circumstances, may juveniles by instructed to work overtime, stay in the employment premises beyond the hours of work fixed for them or asked to work on holidays.