Paid leave for select federal government during COVID-19

Married employees who have children below the age of 16, or who have children of determination, or whose spouses are under isolation or quarantine or whose spouses work in vital health-related occupations and employees of quarantine centres are eligible for paid leave during the time when massive preventive measures are being applied to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Note: The above was implemented during the early phase of pandemic (in 2020) and was slowly phased out as the situation returned to normalcy.

On 8 April 2020, the UAE Cabinet adopted a resolution which entitles specific categories of federal government employees to get a paid leave during the period in which precautionary measures against the spread of #COVID19 are in place.

The categories of employees who are entitled for a paid leave are:

married employees who have children below the age of 16, or who have children of determination, regardless of age, in case where his/her spouse is subject to self-isolation or quarantine that requires no contact with family members upon a decision from the UAE’s public health authorities
employees whose spouses work in vital health-related occupations, such as doctors, nurses, paramedics and other technical jobs that require exposure to infected people and employees of quarantine centres.

Note: The resolution grants the relevant ministry or federal authority the right to ask employees in essential technical occupations to work remotely, instead of taking a leave.

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Updated on 24 Aug 2022

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