UAE maternity leave: 60 days, 45 at full pay and 15 at half, plus the 45 unpaid days that shrink your gratuity

Legal information, not legal advice. Mohamy.ai is not a law firm and is not licensed to practise law or to provide legal consultancy in the UAE, Saudi Arabia or Egypt. This page describes the law of the United Arab Emirates in general terms as it stood on 21 August 2026. It is not advice about your situation. Before you act, and especially if a deadline may be running, consult a lawyer licensed in the United Arab Emirates.

Maternity leave in the UAE is 60 days: the first 45 days at full wage and the following 15 days at half wage. That is Article 30(1) of Federal Decree-Law No. (33) of 2021. On a monthly wage of AED 12,000 the sixty days pay AED 21,000, which is 1.75 months' wage. Section 1 shows the arithmetic.

Three things on this page are usually missing:

  1. The extra 45 days under Article 30(2) are unpaid, and they do not count towards your service term for end of service benefit purposes. The article says so on its face. Section 2 computes what that costs.
  2. Dismissal or notice of dismissal because of the pregnancy, the maternity leave, or an absence under Article 30 is prohibited. Article 30(8). Section 3.
  3. You keep breastfeeding breaks for six months from delivery, and they are additional to your working day, not carved out of it. Article 30(9). Section 3.

Scope, stated once. UAE federal onshore private sector. Not the DIFC. Not the ADGM. Article 3(2) also places federal and local government employees, the armed forces, police and security, and domestic workers outside this Decree-Law.

1. The 60 days, and what they pay

Article 30(1), verbatim from MOHRE's own English:

1. The female worker shall be entitled to a maternity leave of (60) sixty days, according to the following: a. The first (45) forty-five days with full wage. b. The following (15) fifteen days with half wage.

Two tranches, one entitlement. The base is "wage", not basic wage, on the face of the clause. Under Article 1 Wage is the basic wage plus the cash allowances and benefits in kind allocated under the contract. So maternity leave is paid on the larger of the two numbers, which is a different base from the end of service benefit in Article 51(2), computed on the basic wage. Article 51(2) is also the rule for the full-time foreign worker: if you are a UAE national, Article 51(1) puts you under the pensions and social-insurance legislation instead, and the 21 and 30 day formula is not your entitlement. Article 51(6) caps the benefit in its entirety at two years' wage, which on ordinary rates first bites at about twenty-five and a half years of service.

Worked example. Monthly wage AED 12,000, the full 60 days taken.

  • Daily wage on the Article 67 thirty-day month: 12,000 / 30 = AED 400.00.
  • Days 1 to 45 at full wage: 45 x 400.00 = AED 18,000.00.
  • Days 46 to 60 at half wage: 15 x 200.00 = AED 3,000.00.
  • Total for the 60 days: AED 21,000.00.
  • Check: 45 + 15 = 60 days. 18,000 + 3,000 = 21,000. 21,000 / 12,000 = 1.75 months' wage.

The divisor. FACT: Article 67 provides that in applying the Decree-Law the Gregorian year includes 365 days "while the month represents (30) thirty days". OUR READING, labelled as ours: that a provision headed "Calculation of Periods and Dates" also governs converting a monthly wage into a daily rate. Every figure above is shown with its inputs so you can substitute your own.

A sick child or a child of determination gets more. Article 30(4), verbatim, including a missing verb that is in the Ministry's own publication and not in our extraction:

4. If the female worker gives birth to a sick child or a child of determination, whose health condition requires a constant companion, according to a medical report issued by the medical entity, she has the right to a leave of thirty (30) days with full pay starting after the end of the maternity leave and she the right to extend the leave for a period of (30) thirty days without pay.

We quote it as printed rather than repairing it, because the promise of this page is that we quote the publication. The rule it states: 30 days at full pay starting after the maternity leave ends, extendable by a further 30 days without pay, on a medical report issued by the medical entity showing the health condition requires a constant companion.

On a wage of AED 12,000 the additional 30 paid days are 30 x 400.00 = AED 12,000.00, and the further 30 days are unpaid.

2. The 45 unpaid days, and the cost nobody mentions

Article 30(2), verbatim:

2. The female worker may, after using the maternity leave, be absent from work without a wage for a period not exceeding continuous or intermittent (45) forty-five days, if this absence is due to her sickness or her child's sickness resulting from pregnancy or childbirth, which does not allow her to return to her work. ... This period is not included within the service term, for which the female worker is entitled to end of service benefits or the period of contribution in the retirement scheme in accordance with the legislation in force in this regard.

Read the last sentence twice. The 45 days may be continuous or intermittent, they are without a wage, and they are not included within the service term for end of service benefit purposes. Article 51(4) says the same thing generally: "The unpaid days of absence from work shall not be included in the calculation of the service term."

So the 45 days cost you twice: no wage now, and a shorter service term later. Here is what that means in money.

Worked example. A worker takes the full 45 unpaid days under Article 30(2). Her monthly basic wage at the eventual end of service is AED 10,000, and she leaves in her fourth year, so all her service is inside the first five years and accrues at 21 days a year under Article 51(2)(a).

  • 45 days of service lost. Accrual rate inside the first five years: 21 days of basic wage per year of service.
  • Days of gratuity lost: (45 / 365) x 21 = 2.589 days of basic wage.
  • Daily basic wage: 10,000 / 30 = AED 333.333...
  • Cost: 2.589 x 333.333... = about AED 863.
  • On the same facts after five years of service, where the rate is 30 days a year under Article 51(2)(b): (45 / 365) x 30 = 3.699 days, and 3.699 x 333.333... = about AED 1,233.

We use a 365-day year for that conversion because Article 67 provides one, and we label the figure about, because the article does not say how a part year of service converts into days of accrual. The point is not the exact dirham figure, it is that the 45 days are not free and no page tells you that. They may still be entirely the right thing to take. They are simply not costless, and you should know that before you decide.

And the same logic applies to ordinary unpaid leave under Article 33(2), which also does not count towards the service term.

3. Protection, and the breaks after you return

No dismissal for the pregnancy or the leave. Article 30(8):

8. It is not permissible to terminate the service of the female worker or notify her of the same because of the pregnancy, having a maternity leave or her absence from work in accordance with the provisions of this Article.

Three protected reasons, and both limbs of the prohibition. It is not permissible to terminate the service, and it is not permissible to notify her of the same, because of the pregnancy, having a maternity leave, or her absence from work in accordance with this Article. So a notice of termination served during the leave is itself within the prohibition, not merely the termination that would follow it.

And note the third reason. Absence taken under Article 30, which includes the 45 unpaid days under 30(2), is a protected reason. So a dismissal for taking those days is a dismissal for a protected reason on the face of clause 8.

Breastfeeding breaks. Article 30(9):

9. After returning from maternity leave and for a period of not more than (6) six months from the date of delivery, the female worker shall be entitled to one or two breaks per day to breastfeed her child, provided that the two breaks do not exceed an hour.

Read the boundaries. The right runs after returning from maternity leave and for not more than six months from the date of delivery, not six months from the return. It is one or two breaks a day, and the two together do not exceed an hour. The clause does not say the breaks are unpaid, and it does not say they come out of your existing rest period.

Worked point on timing, because the two clocks are different. Delivery on 1 March. Maternity leave of 60 days ends around 30 April. The Article 30(9) right runs to 1 September, six months from delivery, which is about four months after your return, not six.

Parental leave is separate and is available to either parent. Article 32(1)(b) gives 5 working days of paid parental leave to the worker, father or mother, of a newborn, taken continuously or intermittently within 6 months from the date of the child's birth. Cabinet Resolution Article 21(4) requires proof of the birth, and Article 21(5) permits bereavement leave, parental leave, annual leave and unpaid leave to be combined.

And one interaction to know if you are still in probation. Article 31(2) provides that a worker is not entitled to paid sick leave during the probationary period, though the employer may grant unpaid sick leave on a medical report. That is sick leave, not maternity leave, and Article 30 contains no probation carve-out on its face. If you are in probation and a pregnancy-related absence is in issue, that distinction is worth putting to a lawyer rather than assuming either way.

4. What this page does not tell you

  • The employer's exposure if it dismisses in breach of Article 30(8). Clause 8 states the prohibition and states no remedy. Article 47 provides compensation, but only in its own narrow retaliation case, and there is no general unfair-dismissal remedy in this law: the word "arbitrary" appears zero times in either instrument. We are not going to invent a figure for a breach of clause 8. That is exactly the question for a licensed lawyer.
  • Whether the Article 30(9) breaks are paid, beyond noting that the clause does not say they are unpaid and does not say they come out of your rest period. The governing Arabic is the text of record and we have not verified this clause against it.
  • The limitation period, and the deadline to lodge a complaint with the Ministry. We withhold both deliberately. Separately, a ministerial resolution imposes a much shorter window for lodging a labour complaint than the period for bringing a claim. Ask a licensed lawyer now.
  • Any medical or insurance entitlement. Article 30 requires a medical report issued by the medical entity for clause 4 and we do not hold whatever governs that entity or its procedures.
  • Any case law, of which we hold none, and any ministerial resolution not named and pinned here.
  • DIFC and ADGM maternity provisions. Different statutes entirely, and the DIFC in particular is well known for differing here. We hold neither, so we state nothing about either.

Article 54 is withheld from our corpus, and here is exactly why. The Arabic of Article 54 of the Decree-Law directs a challenge to the Ministry's decision to the competent Court of First Instance, and clause 8 of the same article agrees. MOHRE's English of clause 3 says Court of Appeal and contradicts its own clause 8. And the Arabic of Ministerial Resolution No. (782) of 2023 also says Court of Appeal. So this is not simply a translation error: two instruments in force, read in Arabic, point at different courts, and the window to act is counted in working days. We will not choose a court for you, because filing in the wrong one can cost you the claim. Take this to a lawyer licensed in the UAE, or ask the Ministry directly, and do it now.

5. What to do now, in order

  1. Write down your total monthly wage. Maternity leave is paid on the wage, not the basic wage, so the larger number is the base. Article 30(1).
  2. Plan the 60 days as two tranches, 45 at full wage and 15 at half, so the drop in month two does not surprise you.
  3. If your child is sick or a child of determination, get the medical report first. Article 30(4) conditions the extra 30 paid days on a medical report issued by the medical entity showing that the condition requires a constant companion.
  4. Before you take the 45 unpaid days under Article 30(2), price them. They are unpaid and they do not count towards your service term for end of service benefit purposes. Section 2 shows the method.
  5. Diarise the breastfeeding-break window from the date of delivery, not from your return. Article 30(9) runs to six months from delivery.
  6. If either parent wants the 5 working days of parental leave, take them within six months of the birth and keep proof of the birth, per Cabinet Resolution Article 21(4).
  7. If you are dismissed, or notified of dismissal, during or after the leave, keep everything in writing. Article 30(8) prohibits both limbs where the reason is the pregnancy, the leave, or an Article 30 absence, and the reason is the whole issue.

6. When to get a licensed lawyer

  • You have been dismissed, or given notice, during pregnancy or maternity leave, or after returning. Article 30(8) is a prohibition without a stated remedy, so what you can actually recover is a question for a lawyer and not for a page.
  • You are being told your maternity pay is on the basic wage. Article 30(1) says "wage" and Article 1 defines it inclusively.
  • You took the Article 30(2) days and your service length or gratuity is now disputed. Article 30(2) and Article 51(4) both bear on it and the arithmetic depends on a conversion the statute does not specify.
  • You are in probation. Article 31(2) carves probation out of paid sick leave and Article 30 contains no equivalent carve-out on its face, which is a distinction worth testing properly.
  • Any deadline may be running. This is the item where we decline to give you a number.

7. Before you plan the leave: get your contract read against Articles 30 and 1

Two things decide your figures, and both are in your contract: your total wage, and how it is split between basic wage and allowances. Maternity leave uses the total. The gratuity that the Article 30(2) days can shrink uses the basic.

Mohamy.ai document analysis reads your UAE employment contract and shows you how it splits basic wage from allowances beside the two definitions in Article 1, and any maternity or parental leave clause beside Article 30(1) and Article 32(1)(b), so you can see whether your contract is better than the statutory floor, in which case it applies, or worse.

It does not tell you what to do, does not calculate an entitlement as an entitlement, and is not a substitute for a licensed lawyer if a dismissal is in issue. Bring the contract, get the comparison, then go with it.

About this guide

What we are. Mohamy.ai publishes general legal information. We are not a law firm. We are not entered on the roll of lawyers and legal consultants held by the UAE Ministry of Justice under Federal Decree-Law No. 34 of 2022. We are not registered under the Saudi Code of Law Practice. We are not members of the Egyptian Bar Association under Law No. 17 of 1983. Nothing on this page is legal advice, an opinion on your case, or a prediction of any outcome. No lawyer and client relationship is created and no duty of care is owed to you.

The Arabic governs, and the English we quote is the Ministry's own. Article 66(1) of the Decree-Law makes Arabic the approved language, and Article 66(2) provides that where the Arabic text and another language differ, the Arabic text prevails. Every English quotation on this page is taken verbatim from MOHRE's own bilingual publication, which the Ministry disclaims: its standalone Cabinet Resolution PDF carries the footer "THIS is Not an official translation". So where an English word matters to your case, the Arabic is the law and the Ministry's English is not. That is not a formality, and the note on Article 54 earlier on this page sets out exactly why.

What this page does not cover. The UAE federal onshore private sector only. It does not cover the DIFC or the ADGM, which are separate common law jurisdictions with their own employment legislation, their own limitation periods and their own courts. It does not cover federal or local government employees, members of the armed forces, police and security, or domestic workers, all of whom Article 3(2) places outside the Decree-Law, domestic workers being governed by a separate instrument we do not hold. It does not cover any ministerial resolution except where one is named and pinned on the page, and it holds no case law of any kind.

How current this is. Every legal statement here was checked on 21 August 2026 against the pinned MOHRE publication, which is the consolidation including Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2024. The UAE Legislation portal records Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 as Active with three amendments, being Federal Decree-Law No. 14 of 2022, No. 20 of 2023 and No. 9 of 2024, and a last update of 29 July 2024.

Deadlines. Limitation periods and filing deadlines can extinguish an otherwise valid claim permanently. Do not rely on any period stated here. Confirm it with a licensed lawyer without delay. Note in particular that the deadline to lodge a labour complaint with the Ministry and the period for bringing a claim are different numbers of a different order of magnitude, and that the shorter one sits in a ministerial resolution.

Sources. Federal Decree-Law No. (33) of 2021 Regarding the Regulation of Employment Relationships and its amendments, and Cabinet Resolution No. (1) of 2022 on its Implementing Regulation, official MOHRE bilingual publication, pinned SHA-256 db64033d...1d833b6, from which 113 articles were extracted mechanically into an internal corpus. No character of the legal text was typed by a person or produced by a language model. Where the governing Arabic is quoted, it is from the UAE Legislation portal records for Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 and Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022, read by our primary-source researcher.

How this was produced. Drafted with the assistance of AI and checked against the primary legislation cited above before publication. If you believe anything here is wrong or out of date, write to contact@mohamy.ai and we will correct or withdraw it.

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