Your employer asks you to stay home for a month without pay. Can they call it unpaid leave and stop your salary? The reason for the leave matters. Under UAE private-sector rules, ordinary unpaid leave requires employer approval, but that doesn’t give employers a general right to impose it on employees.
If you need time off, or your company asks you to take it, confirm the leave type and dates in writing. For an extended absence, also check whether your health insurance remains active. Here’s what to look for before your next payroll runs.
Mainland, Free Zone or DIFC: Which Leave Rules Apply
Mainland Private-Sector Jobs
Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 is the main employment law for mainland private-sector workers. It applies across the emirates to mainland jobs, so a job in Dubai follows the same federal unpaid-leave rule as a mainland job in Sharjah.
Start with the legal employer named in your employment contract and work permit. Your workplace brand may differ from the company that employs you. Then check your salary breakdown, leave terms and any company policy that offers better benefits. If you’re unsure which document sets your terms, review how UAE employment contracts work.
Free-Zone Jobs Need an Extra Check
Don’t assume every free-zone job uses the same contract or complaint process as a mainland job. DIFC and ADGM have separate employment laws, and other free zones may have their own authorities and procedures.
Check the relevant free-zone labor regulations and procedures with the authority named on your employment documents before relying on a mainland rule or filing a complaint. The differences between free-zone and mainland jobs are especially important when pay or leave becomes disputed. Domestic workers also follow a separate framework.
UAE Unpaid Leave Rules: What Article 33 Says
Approval Is the Starting Point
Article 33 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 allows unpaid leave with the employer’s approval. It doesn’t create a general allowance of unpaid days you can take whenever you choose.
Ask before booking travel or making plans. Record the approved start and end dates, especially if leave crosses two salary months. A written unpaid leave agreement should also clarify how pay will be treated. Don’t rely on a verbal “yes” if your pay will change.
Can Your Employer Force You to Take It?
Article 33 doesn’t itself give an employer a blanket right to impose unpaid leave without your agreement. If a manager says there’s no work and your salary will stop, ask what arrangement they’re proposing and whether it’s based on mutual agreement.
Don’t sign a leave form that says you requested time off if you didn’t. Keep any message or notice explaining why the company wants you away. An employer-proposed arrangement is different from your own request, even if payroll labels both as “unpaid leave.”
A payroll label doesn’t settle a disagreement about consent. Keep the original request, your response and the payslip.
Which Types of Leave Can Include Unpaid Days?
Sick Leave Has a Set Pay Schedule
After probation, an eligible employee can take up to 90 days of sick leave per year of service. The sick leave provisions provide full pay for the first 15 days, half pay for the next 30, and no pay for the remaining 45. Medical reporting and notification requirements still apply.
During probation, an employer may grant unpaid sick leave if a recognised medical authority provides a supporting report. Don’t assume the usual paid sick-leave schedule applies during probation. Equally, a qualifying sick day shouldn’t be casually recoded as ordinary unpaid leave.
Maternity Extensions Have Medical Conditions
Statutory maternity leave is 60 days: 45 at full pay and 15 at half pay. After that, an employee may take up to 45 unpaid days, continuously or separately, if she or her child is sick because of pregnancy or childbirth. A medical certificate is required.
There’s also a separate provision when a child is sick or disabled and needs the mother’s constant care: 30 days at full pay, with an extension of up to 30 unpaid days. These aren’t unrestricted extra days off. The circumstances and supporting documents matter.
Hajj Is Different From Umrah
The law provides for unpaid Hajj leave of up to 30 days, once during employment with the same employer. There’s no equivalent statutory Umrah leave. For Umrah, discuss annual leave or a separately approved period of unpaid leave with your employer.
Before requesting any of these categories, name the leave accurately. It makes a difference to your documents, salary and any later dispute. The official list of leave types on u.ae can help you compare categories, but use the current law and your applicable employment rules for your case.
What Happens to Salary and WPS Records?
Check the Payslip, Not Only the Bank Credit
Approved unpaid days generally mean you won’t receive wages for those days. But don’t assume one daily salary deduction formula applies to every salary arrangement. Ask payroll to list the unpaid dates and explain the basis for any salary deduction. Check the payroll calculation, including how basic pay and allowances in your salary package were treated.
For a leave period spanning two months, check both payslips. Confirm that paid annual leave, paid sick leave or a public holiday wasn’t entered as unpaid by mistake. If the amount looks wrong, raise the exact dates and difference with HR in writing.
WPS Doesn’t Replace Your Agreement
The Wage Protection System, or WPS, records wage payments for covered employees. A WPS transfer shows that a payment was made, but it doesn’t prove that every leave entry or deduction was correct. Compare the transfer with your contract, approved leave record and payslip. For a closer look at payment records, see how the UAE Wage Protection System works.
Don’t accept a claim that every unpaid-leave agreement has to be separately registered with MoHRE unless your employer can identify the applicable requirement. If your pay changes because of leave, the record should still explain why the amount differs from your normal wage.
How Unpaid Leave Affects Service and End of Service Gratuity
Your Job Can Continue While Service Time Is Excluded
Article 33 says unpaid leave isn’t counted in an employee’s service period or retirement-scheme contribution period. This may affect qualifying service used for certain employee benefits.
That doesn’t mean an approved break automatically ends your employment contract. Confirm how unpaid days are treated under the law and scheme that apply to you, using official sources.
Keep a record of the dates. If you later check a final settlement, compare your joining and leaving dates with any excluded unpaid-leave period. Ask for a service-time breakdown rather than accepting an unexplained total.
Check the Basic Salary Used in Your Settlement
For eligible expatriate employees covered by federal private-sector rules, the calculation generally uses 21 days’ basic salary per year for the first five years and 30 days per year after that. Unpaid-leave periods don’t add qualifying service time, but free-zone employees and other schemes may follow different rules.
A large salary package can still produce a lower figure than you expect if allowances are treated differently from basic salary. Check your contract, the unpaid days recorded and the employer’s calculation. Our UAE gratuity calculator deducts unpaid days from your service time, so you can check the employer’s figure, but your applicable law and employment records control the final amount.
How to Request Unpaid Leave Without Pay Surprises
Send a Clear Request Before the Leave Starts
Tell your manager or HR why you need time off and state the exact dates. Ask whether paid annual leave or another applicable paid leave category is available first. Requesting unpaid leave doesn’t replace an applicable paid-leave entitlement, and your employer’s approval is separate.
Your message can be simple: “Please confirm whether you approve my unpaid leave, the approved dates, how my salary will be treated during that period, and my return date.” If your leave is medically related, ask which documents HR needs and submit them through the proper channel.
Confirm the Terms You May Need Later
Before you agree, check the return-to-work date, salary treatment and who will update the leave and payroll records. If you’re concerned about your visa and insurance, ask HR to confirm their status and in writing whether health insurance coverage will continue during leave. Unpaid leave alone isn’t a reliable promise that every arrangement will remain unchanged.
Save your approval outside your work inbox if company policy permits it. Keep payslips and bank statements too. These records are useful if your return date moves or a later salary payment doesn’t match what you agreed.
What to Do if Your Employer Stops Paying You
Ask for the Reason in Writing
If your salary stops without an approved leave arrangement, write to HR promptly. State the dates you worked or were available to work, the amount missing, and any leave you agreed to take. Ask for a corrected payslip and a payment date.
Don’t let a disputed absence remain unexplained on the record. If the company says you’re on unpaid leave, respond clearly if you didn’t request or accept it. Keep your reply factual, even if the situation feels stressful.
Use the Correct Complaint Route
For a MoHRE-regulated mainland employer, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation handles many wage and labour complaints. Gather your contract, Emirates ID and work-permit details, payslips, bank statements, leave messages, and a short timeline. The steps for filing a MoHRE salary complaint can help you prepare a MoHRE complaint before using the Ministry’s current official channels.
If your employer threatens dismissal because you refused unwanted unpaid leave, don’t assume this automatically amounts to arbitrary dismissal. The outcome depends on the facts, including any notice period, unpaid wages, and the reason given. For a free-zone job, confirm the right authority and ask about relevant visa and insurance arrangements, including health insurance, before filing or signing a settlement. Our guide to termination rights in the UAE can help you identify what to check, but get advice on your own documents before agreeing to final terms.
Unpaid leave under UAE labour law: refusals, service time and visas
Can I Take Unpaid Leave if My Employer Refuses?
Ordinary unpaid leave under Article 33 needs employer approval. You can ask again with different dates or check whether another leave entitlement applies. Don’t stay away from work on the assumption that your request was approved.
Does Unpaid Leave Count Toward Continuous Service?
Article 33 excludes unpaid-leave time from the service period. Your employment may continue through an approved absence, but those unpaid days don’t add to the service time used for relevant benefits.
Will Unpaid Leave Cancel My UAE Visa?
An approved period of unpaid leave doesn’t, by itself, tell you what will happen to your residence status. Ask the legal employer to confirm your work-permit, visa and insurance arrangements. If there’s a dispute or proposed cancellation, check directly with the responsible authority.
