UAE sick leave: 90 days a year that pay exactly one month, and the clause that lets your employer terminate when they run out

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.

After probation ends, you may take up to 90 continuous or intermittent days of sick leave a year: the first 15 at full pay, the next 30 at half pay, and the rest unpaid. That is Article 31(3) of Federal Decree-Law No. (33) of 2021.

And here is the arithmetic that nobody publishes. Across the full 90-day entitlement, on a monthly wage of AED 9,000:

15 days at full pay: 15 x 300.00 = AED 4,500.00
30 days at half pay: 30 x 150.00 = AED 4,500.00
45 days unpaid: AED 0.00
Total: AED 9,000.00, which is exactly one month's wage.

A full year's sick leave entitlement pays one month. That is a clean and memorable result and it is worth knowing before you plan around it.

Three further things on this page:

No paid sick leave during probation at all. Article 31(2). The employer may grant unpaid sick leave on a medical report, and may. Section 2.
Once the 90 days are exhausted and you cannot return, the employer may terminate, and what you receive is your full financial entitlements, not compensation. Article 31(5). Section 4.
But Article 46 blocks a health-related termination before you have used your accrued leaves, and voids any agreement to the contrary even one made before this Decree-Law came into force. Section 4.

Scope, stated once. UAE federal onshore private sector. Not the DIFC. Not the ADGM.

1. The entitlement, quoted, and the three-day clock on you

Article 31, verbatim from MOHRE's own English:

1. If the worker is infected by a disease not arising from work injury, he shall inform the employer or his representative about his sickness, within a period not exceeding (3) three working days, and submit a medical report on his condition, issued by the medical entity. 2. The worker shall not be entitled to a paid sick leave during the probationary period. However, the employer may grant him a sick leave without pay, based on a medical report issued by the medical entity that stipulates the necessity of granting the leave. 3. After the end of the probationary period, the worker may be entitled to a sick leave of not more than (90) ninety continuous or intermittent days per year, provided that it is calculated as follows: a. The first (15) fifteen days with full pay. b. The following (30) thirty days with half pay. c. The following period unpaid. 4. The worker shall not be entitled to a wage for the sick leave if the sickness resulted from the misconduct of the worker, in accordance with the cases defined by the Implementing Regulation hereof. 5. The employer may terminate the worker's service after finishing his sick leave referred to in this Article if he is unable to return to his work, provided that the worker receives all his financial entitlements in accordance with the provisions of this Decree-Law and its Implementing Regulation.

Clause 1 puts a deadline on you, and it is short. You must inform the employer or its representative within not more than three working days, and submit a medical report on your condition issued by the medical entity. Two obligations, one deadline. This is the only clock in this article that runs against the worker, and it is three working days, so do it the same week.

The 90 days are per year and may be continuous or intermittent, so a series of short absences draws on the same annual pool as one long one.

The base is "pay" and "wage" on the face of clauses 3 and 4, not the basic wage, so the larger of the two Article 1 definitions applies. Compare that with the end of service benefit in Article 51(2), computed on the basic wage. Two different bases in the same statute, and knowing which one applies is most of what these pages are for.

The day count, checked. 15 full plus 30 half plus the following period unpaid. Since the total is not more than 90, the unpaid tranche is 90 minus 45 = 45 days.

The divisor. FACT: Article 67 provides that in applying the Decree-Law the month represents 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.

2. Probation: no paid sick leave, and how that interacts with everything else

Article 31(2) is unambiguous: "The worker shall not be entitled to a paid sick leave during the probationary period." The employer may grant unpaid sick leave on a medical report from the medical entity stating the necessity of granting it, and "may" is permissive, not mandatory.

Three consequences worth spelling out.

First, the probationary period can be up to six months. Article 9(1) permits a probationary period not exceeding six months from the date of commencement of work. So a worker who falls ill in month five of a six-month probation has no paid sick leave entitlement under this Decree-Law at all.

Second, the annual 90 days start after probation ends, on the face of clause 3, which opens with "After the end of the probationary period".

Third, unpaid days do not count towards your service term. Article 51(4): "The unpaid days of absence from work shall not be included in the calculation of the service term." So unpaid sick leave, whether granted during probation under clause 2 or taken in the unpaid tranche under clause 3(c), shortens the base of your eventual end of service benefit.

Worked example of that cost. A worker takes the full 45 unpaid days in the third tranche. Their eventual monthly basic wage is AED 10,000, and they leave inside the first five years, so accrual is 21 days a year under Article 51(2)(a).

Days of service lost: 45.
Gratuity days lost: (45 / 365) x 21 = 2.589 days of basic wage.
Daily basic wage: 10,000 / 30 = AED 333.333...
Cost: about AED 863.

We use a 365-day year because Article 67 provides one, and we label the figure about, because the article does not state how a part year converts into days of accrual. The unpaid tranche is not free. It may still be the right thing to take.

3. When sick leave is not paid at all

Article 31(4) removes the wage where the sickness resulted from the worker's misconduct, "in accordance with the cases defined by the Implementing Regulation". Cabinet Resolution No. (1) of 2022 Article 20 defines them:

Subject to the provisions of Article (31) of the Decree-Law: 1. The worker shall not be entitled to a wage during sick leave: a. If the disease resulted from the worker's misconduct, such as their consumption of alcohol or drugs. b. If the worker violated the safety instructions in accordance with the legislation in force in the State, such as the instructions related to crises and disasters, traffic regulations or any safety procedures and rules set out in the establishment's regulations that the worker was informed of and has acknowledged their understanding thereof and compliance therewith. 2. A report from the concerned authorities in the State proving that the disease resulted from the worker's misconduct is a prerequisite for the implementation of the provision of Paragraph (a) of this Article.

Clause 2 is the protection and it is easy to miss. For paragraph (a), misconduct such as consumption of alcohol or drugs, a report from the concerned authorities in the State proving that the disease resulted from the worker's misconduct is a prerequisite. So an employer's own conclusion that your illness was your fault is not enough on the face of clause 2. There has to be a report from the concerned authorities.

And read the end of paragraph (b) carefully. Where the ground is a breach of safety rules set out in the establishment's regulations, the text requires that the worker was informed of them and has acknowledged their understanding of them and compliance with them. Two conditions, and they are documentary. Ask which document the employer says you acknowledged.

4. Termination: the clause that permits it and the clause that blocks it

The clause that permits it. Article 31(5): the employer may terminate the worker's service after finishing his sick leave referred to in the article if he is unable to return to his work, provided the worker receives all his financial entitlements in accordance with the Decree-Law and its Implementing Regulation.

Three elements, and the last one matters most. The sick leave must be finished. The worker must be unable to return to work. And what the worker receives is all his financial entitlements, which is the end of service benefit and the rest of what is owed, not compensation for the termination. There is no compensation head in clause 5.

The clause that blocks it. Article 46, verbatim:

The employer may not terminate the worker's service due to his lack of health fitness before using the legally accrued leaves. Each agreement to the contrary shall be null and void, even if it is concluded prior to the enforcement of the provisions hereof.

Read that twice, because it is stronger than it looks. The employer may not terminate for lack of health fitness before the worker has used the legally accrued leaves. And any agreement to the contrary is null and void, even one made before this Decree-Law came into force. So a clause in an older contract permitting termination on medical grounds without exhausting leave is void by express provision.

And note the phrase "the legally accrued leaves", in the plural. On the face of the text it is not limited to sick leave. Your accrued annual leave is a legally accrued leave. Whether Article 46 requires the annual balance to be used before a health-related termination is a question of construction, and we are not resolving it. We are flagging it, because it is favourable to the worker and it is on the face of the words.

So the two clauses read together give a sequence: the accrued leaves come first, under Article 46, and only after the sick leave is finished and the worker still cannot return does Article 31(5) permit termination, with full financial entitlements.

And what "full financial entitlements" includes. Your end of service benefit under Article 51(2), computed on the basic wage at 21 days a year for the first five years and 30 days a year thereafter, with no reduction for the reason your service ended, and your accrued annual leave balance under Article 29(9), also on the basic wage. 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. And Article 51(2) is 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.

On the words "all his financial entitlements", we read the Arabic. Article 31(5) in the language of enactment says كافة مستحقاته المالية, all of his financial entitlements, and MOHRE's English of that clause is accurate. Article 53 gives the deadline: within 14 days from the end date of the contract term.

5. What this page does not tell you

Which medical entity, and what its procedures are. Article 31 requires a medical report issued by the medical entity in clauses 1, 2 and 4, and we hold no instrument defining that entity or its procedures. Ask your employer which report they accept, in writing, before you need it.
Whether Article 46 requires your annual leave balance to be used before a health-related termination. The words are "the legally accrued leaves", in the plural. We flag the reading and do not resolve it.
What you can recover if you are terminated in breach of Article 46. The article states the prohibition and voids contrary agreements. It states no remedy. Article 47 gives compensation 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 will not invent a figure.
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.
Work injuries and occupational diseases. Article 31 covers a disease not arising from work injury. Work injuries are Articles 37 and 38 and Cabinet Resolution Article 23, which are a different regime and are not on this page.
Any case law, of which we hold none, and DIFC or ADGM sick leave, which are different statutes entirely.

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.

6. What to do now, in order

Notify within three working days, in writing. Article 31(1) gives you not more than three working days to inform the employer or its representative and to submit a medical report issued by the medical entity. This is the only deadline in the article that runs against you.
Ask now, before you are ill, which medical entity's report your employer accepts. Get the answer in writing. It is a free question today and an expensive one in week two of an illness.
Know which tranche you are in. Days 1 to 15 full pay, 16 to 45 half pay, 46 to 90 unpaid. The pool is annual and it counts intermittent days too.
If you are in probation, know that there is no paid sick leave entitlement, under Article 31(2), and that probation can run to six months under Article 9(1).
If your pay is stopped on misconduct grounds, ask for the report from the concerned authorities. Cabinet Resolution Article 20(2) makes it a prerequisite for the alcohol or drugs limb.
If a termination is raised on health grounds, cite Article 46 first. It blocks termination for lack of health fitness before the legally accrued leaves are used and voids contrary agreements.
If your service does end, expect the full financial entitlements within 14 days of the end of the contract term, under Articles 31(5) and 53, and claims not exceeding AED 100,000 are exempt from judicial fees at all stages of litigation and execution under Article 55(1).

7. When to get a licensed lawyer

You are being terminated on health grounds. Article 46 and Article 31(5) interact, and the sequence of which leaves must be used first is exactly the sort of question that decides a case.
Your sick pay has been stopped for misconduct. Cabinet Resolution Article 20(2) requires a report from the concerned authorities for the alcohol or drugs ground, and paragraph (b) requires documented acknowledgement of the safety rules.
Your illness may be a work injury. That is a different regime with different money, and getting it into the wrong regime costs you.
You are in probation and seriously ill. Article 31(2) leaves you without paid sick leave, and what else is available to you is worth proper advice.
Any deadline may be running. This is the item where we decline to give you a number.

8. Before you need it: get your contract read against Article 31

Two things decide your figures and both are in your contract: your wage, and the length of any probationary period. Sick pay uses the wage. Probation determines whether you have a paid entitlement at all.

Mohamy.ai document analysis reads your UAE employment contract and shows you any sick leave clause beside the three tranches in Article 31(3), your probation clause beside the six-month cap in Article 9(1) and the carve-out in Article 31(2), and how your wage is split between basic and allowances beside the two definitions in Article 1, which is what determines your gratuity figure if your service ends.

It does not tell you what to do and does not calculate an entitlement as an entitlement. 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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