Previously, the employment law in the United Arab Emirates stipulated only Full-time work, meaning Employment with a single employer for the entirety of daily working shifts.

Part-time Employment, Temporary Employment, Flexible Employment, Remote Employment, and Job-sharing Employment haven't traditionally been something that employers in the UAE have offered because the previous labor law did not regulate or allow such work models.

The new employment Law No 33-year 2021 is changing the entire situation as the economy continues to diversify, and stipulate new work categories or models by dividing the employment market into six different work models, which include:

FULL-TIME WORK

Full-time work means employment with a single employer for the entirety of daily working shifts. This model was the only existing model under the previous canceled law, and it remains as it is according to the new employment law.

PART-TIME WORK

Part-time work means working only part of the usual day or week. People living in the UAE on a family visa can work part-time. They only need to have a no objection certificate (NOC) from the sponsor and a work permit from The Ministry of Human Resources & Emiratization MOHRE, which the employer must obtain.

Employees working with an employer as a part-time worker can duplicate the part-time job with another employer at the same time, but they can do so for no more than eight hours a day. So, under this system, part-time contract employees can have several jobs without having to first get the original or secondary employers to approve them as long as the MOHRE permit was issued.

Even employees who work full-time have nothing to prevent them from working part-time with another employer, but this is conditional on the approval of the main employer and not exceeding the number of daily working hours, "8 hours", which means that such a situation is difficult to apply practically.

TEMPORARY WORK

Temporary work means, employment ends upon completing specified contractual hours or project(s). Employees according to the new labor law, have the option of legally working with an employer through a temporary work permit, which is issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization (MOHRE) for a period not exceeding six months. A No objection certificate from the sponsor is required if the family or another employer sponsors the employee.

The Ministry may approve to grant a temporary work permit without satisfying the condition related to the former employer's approval and the validity of the card and residence visa only in case there is a labor complaint that the Ministry refers to a court between the employer and the employee or If it is confirmed that the employer failed to pay wages for a period exceeding two months according to the wages protection office report or the labor relation offices report.

FLEXIBLE WORK

Flexible work means Employment allows working days and hours to change based on operational workload and requirements. This type of work involves changing working hours or Working Days, depending on the Work volume or on the economic and operational circumstances of the Employer. The Worker may work for the Employer for flexible hours or days depending on the Work's circumstances or requirements.

REMOTE WORK

Remote work means Employees can fully or partially work from outside the office, city, and/or even the country.

OTHER KINDS OF WORK CATEGORIES

Cabinet resolution No 1 of 2022 on the employment of federal decree law No 33 of 2021 regarding the regulation of labor relations stipulated Job-sharing work type, which means the tasks and duties are divided among more than one work as agreed upon in advance, and this is reflected in the wages due to each of them.

It is noted that the above-mentioned cabinet resolution No 1 of 2022 stated that the workers are dealt with pursuant to the rules of part-time work.

Finally, in this regard, cabinet resolution No 1 of 2022 stipulated that Ministry may set out other work types according to the needs of the labor market.

SUCH AMENDMENT WILL BE REFLECTED POSITIVELY ON THE MARKET

United Arab Emirates has a lot of employer types including small, medium, and large in all sectors, and has a significant numbers of startup companies, in fact all companies need part time employees, temporary work employees, flexible work employees, remote work employees and the other types to safe money and time.

For example, a small entity might need an accountant or IT support worker form not more than 20 hours a week to operate its business, previously such a small company had to employ the accountant or the IT technician for full time and pay full salary but only getting a benefit of the needed 20 hours.

On the other hand, employees who are looking for part time jobs such as student or a mother of a young baby or any other employees who have limited time for their personal reasons, will be able to work part time and handle their other life responsibilities at the same time.

This amendment is considered as a protection to the employers froma large calculation of the End of Service compensations, because the executive regulations of the employment law determined different method of the calculation of the end of service for such work categories which proportional to the amount and time of work.

END F SEVERANCE COMPENSATION FOR EMPLOYEES UNDER THE NEW WORK MODELS

Severance pays for an employee who works under a part-time or job-sharing model will be calculated as follows; Number of working hours set out in the employment contract in a year divided by the number of usual working hours set out in a full-time employment contract in a year, multiplied by 100%, which is then multiplied by the amount of severance pay under a full-time employment contract.

End of service compensation will not apply for an employee under temporary work if the term of their contract is less than one year.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.