Employing women at your company? Read the following!!

Employment of women as per UAE Labour Law

As per the Chapter II Section 3 Article 27 of UAE Labour Law Women may not be asked to work at night from 10 PM to 7 AM.

As per the Chapter II Section 3 Article 28 of UAE Labour Law, the following cases shall be excepted from the clause prohibiting women to work at night.

a. In the event where the work in the establishment is stopped due to force majeure.

b. Work in responsible managerial and technical jobs.

c. Work in medical and other services as may be decided by the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs if the working woman does not normally carry out a manual job. 

As per the Chapter II Section 3 Article 29 of UAE Labour Law, women may not be employed where jobs are hazardous, harmful or detrimental to health or morals, and in such other jobs as may be decided by the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs after consulting with the competent authorities.

As per the Chapter II Section 3 Article 30 of UAE Labour Law, a working woman shall be entitled for forty five days maternity leave with full pay to include the period before and after the delivery, provided she has served continuously for not less than one year. The maternity leave shall be granted with half pay if the woman has not completed one year.

At the end of the maternity leave, a working woman has a right to extend her maternity leave for a maximum of one hundred days without pay. This unpaid leave can be continuous or interrupted if the interruption is caused by illness which prevents her from coming to work.

The illness must be confirmed by a certified government physician licensed by the competent health authority. Maternity leave in either of the above cases shall not be deducted from any other leave for which the woman employee is entitled.

As per the Chapter II Section 3 Article 31 of UAE Labour Law, in addition to any  prescribed rest period a working women who foster her child  shall, during the 18th months following the delivery has the right to have two daily intervals which do not exceed half an hour each for the purpose of nursing her child. Those two additional intervals shall be considered part of the working hours and no deduction in wages shall be made.

As per the Chapter II Section 3 Article 32 of UAE Labour Law, a working woman shall be entitled to the same wage as that of a working man, if she does the same work.