People working remotely for companies in Abu Dhabi's financial zone will soon have the same rights as office-based staff.
The legal change affects employees based outside the country and comes into effect from April 1.
The move is a first for the UAE. It means remote employees will benefit from maternity leave, sick pay and end-of-service payments.
There are two types of remote employees who the law covers. One is a domestic remote employee who lives in the UAE, is employed by an ADGM entity and either just works from home all the time or does a hybrid model.
The second type of remote employee defined under the law never comes to the UAE, but is employed by an ADGM entity, said Luke Tapp, partner and head of Middle East employment practice at law firm Pinsent Masons.
“The majority of the benefits under the law, such as annual leave, sick pay, maternity pay and end-of-service gratuity, will still apply to remote employees. They will have consistent treatment with a normal UAE-based employee,” said Mr Tapp.
“However, remote employees based outside the UAE are not entitled to a visa and work permit, or to receive health insurance, under the law.”
The ADGM-based employer is also required to provide remote employees with the technical equipment necessary for them to work, according to Mr Tapp.
There's nothing in the law that says salaries for remote employees should be different at all, and employers probably would run the risk of discrimination claims if they were to do so, he said.
Established in 2015, ADGM on Al Maryah Island has recorded rapid growth as Abu Dhabi enhances its non-oil economy and focuses on attracting more international companies and investors.
The financial free zone has seen a rise in asset and fund managers, with assets under its management rising by 215 per cent annually in the third quarter of 2024. The total number of operational entities within ADGM’s jurisdiction increased to 2,251 during those three months − up 31 per cent annually. This reflects strong demand from sectors such as asset management, financial technology and professional services.
Since the third quarter of 2023, there has been an influx of 4,433 workers, marking an increase of 35 per cent in the overall workforce within the ADGM jurisdiction.
Under the new ADGM employment law, the concept of discrimination has been extended to include pregnancy and maternity as protected characteristics, said Mr Tapp.
The objectives of the new law are to modernise the workforce and attract and retain top talent
Luke Tapp,
partner, Pinsent Masons
“Employees can raise claims of discrimination, harassment or victimisation in the workplace. A particular remedy for the employee is that they could be compensated for up to three years of their wage if they're successful with discrimination claims,” he said.
The objectives of the new law are to enhance employee protection, modernise the workforce and attract and retain top talent, added Mr Tapp.
Other notable changes include a clause that employment contracts must be provided to the employee within one month of starting work.
The new law goes into more detail around entitlements for part-time employees and provides that part-time working is permitted. It says that employees can take sick leave but with no entitlement to pay during probation.
End-of-service gratuity is now payable in all cases where the employee has more than one year’s service. However, employees have the option to participate in a pension or savings scheme as an alternative to gratuity, according to Pinsent Masons.
Maternity leave remains 65 working days, but the new law extends maternity rights to employees adopting children under the age of five years old and for women who give birth to a stillborn child or suffer a miscarriage after the start of the 24th week of pregnancy.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Normcore explained
Something of a fashion anomaly, normcore is essentially a celebration of the unremarkable. The term was first popularised by an article in New York magazine in 2014 and has been dubbed “ugly”, “bland’ and "anti-style" by fashion writers. It’s hallmarks are comfort, a lack of pretentiousness and neutrality – it is a trend for those who would rather not stand out from the crowd. For the most part, the style is unisex, favouring loose silhouettes, thrift-shop threads, baseball caps and boyish trainers. It is important to note that normcore is not synonymous with cheapness or low quality; there are high-fashion brands, including Parisian label Vetements, that specialise in this style. Embraced by fashion-forward street-style stars around the globe, it’s uptake in the UAE has been relatively slow.
Tips for SMEs to cope
- Adapt your business model. Make changes that are future-proof to the new normal
- Make sure you have an online presence
- Open communication with suppliers, especially if they are international. Look for local suppliers to avoid delivery delays
- Open communication with customers to see how they are coping and be flexible about extending terms, etc
Courtesy: Craig Moore, founder and CEO of Beehive, which provides term finance and working capital finance to SMEs. Only SMEs that have been trading for two years are eligible for funding from Beehive.
1971: The Year The Music Changed Everything
Director: Asif Kapadia
4/5
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UAE%20Warriors%2045%20Results
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Building boom turning to bust as Turkey's economy slows
Deep in a provincial region of northwestern Turkey, it looks like a mirage - hundreds of luxury houses built in neat rows, their pointed towers somewhere between French chateau and Disney castle.
Meant to provide luxurious accommodations for foreign buyers, the houses are however standing empty in what is anything but a fairytale for their investors.
The ambitious development has been hit by regional turmoil as well as the slump in the Turkish construction industry - a key sector - as the country's economy heads towards what could be a hard landing in an intensifying downturn.
After a long period of solid growth, Turkey's economy contracted 1.1 per cent in the third quarter, and many economists expect it will enter into recession this year.
The country has been hit by high inflation and a currency crisis in August. The lira lost 28 per cent of its value against the dollar in 2018 and markets are still unconvinced by the readiness of the government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to tackle underlying economic issues.
The villas close to the town centre of Mudurnu in the Bolu region are intended to resemble European architecture and are part of the Sarot Group's Burj Al Babas project.
But the development of 732 villas and a shopping centre - which began in 2014 - is now in limbo as Sarot Group has sought bankruptcy protection.
It is one of hundreds of Turkish companies that have done so as they seek cover from creditors and to restructure their debts.
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HOW DO SIM CARD SCAMS WORK?
Sim swap frauds are a form of identity theft.
They involve criminals conning mobile phone operators into issuing them with replacement Sim cards, often by claiming their phone has been lost or stolen
They use the victim's personal details - obtained through criminal methods - to convince such companies of their identity.
The criminal can then access any online service that requires security codes to be sent to a user's mobile phone, such as banking services.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Abu Dhabi GP schedule
Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm
Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm
Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
