Sick during an epidemic in UAE? New law says you keep full salary, every day of leave
The amendments to the federal draft law on fighting communicable diseases were approved by the Federal National Council (FNC), and ensure that employees unable to attend work due to an epidemic or pandemic are able to continue enjoying full salary while maintaining all their leave rights.
The amendments also require that employers are obliged to prevent any employee or worker who is infected with the communicable disease, reasonably suspected of being infected or identified as a close contact during an epidemic / pandemic from attending the workplace as any attendance by such person may cause risk to health of other persons.
Employees to Receive Full Salary During Isolation
The time off will not count towards the employee's legally mandated leave allowance. Employees may receive their gross salary or full wage for the entirety of the absence only when they show a certificate from the relevant health institution issued by a competent health authority.
How the Amendments Were Approved
The amendments were approved during the 13th session of the third regular session of the FNC's 18th legislative chapter under Speaker Saqr Ghobash at Zayed Hall in Abu Dhabi Wednesday (July 8), in attendance of Ahmed bin Ali Al Sayegh, Minister of Health and Prevention.
The draft law was initially approved by the council last March. The amendment moved by the presidential court in coordination with the cabinet to add flexibility to the existing provision of law and cover more cases was returned subsequently.
FNC members discussed the new provisions and referred them to the Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, which reviewed the amendments on July 6 and argued for their justification based on potential real-life scenarios before approving them in full.
Impact on Employers and Workplaces
But the new provision makes it untenable for employers not to stop affected employees from going to work as soon as an official health certificate is issued. This alleviates the weight from workers and safeguards their workplace security while preserving labor rights.
The amendments also incorporate lessons from Covid-19 pandemic when it was unclear whether quarantine and isolation periods were sick leave or unpaid leave.
Strengthening Public Health Legislation
The draft law, now revised, amends the current UAE Anti-Communicable Disease Law and is designed within the context of an overall this keeps pace with or advances actually seeing how the future treats similar issues in terms of preventing, spotting and effectively responding to outbreaks and protecting both public health and employee rights.
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