SECTION I   Employment of Workers

Article 9
Work is an inherent right of the Nationals of the UnitedArab Emirates. Non-nationals may not engage in any work within the State except in accordance with the conditions stipulated inthis Law and its executive orders.

Article 10
Where National workers are not available, preference inemployment shall be given to:

1- 1-  Workers of other Arab nationalities.

2- 2-  Workers of other nationalities.

Article   11
There shall be established within the Labour Department asection for the employment of Nationals, which shallassume the following functions:

a.      a.    Procuring employment opportunities suitable for nationals.
   b.   Assisting employers by supplying their demand of National workers when needed.
   c.   Registering Nationals who are unemployed or seeking better employment in a special register. Such registration shall be made at the applicant's own request. Each registered jobseeker shall be issued, free of charge, a certificate of registration on the day of application. A registration certificate shall be assigned a serial number and shall contain the applicant's name, age, and place of residence, occupation, qualification and past experience. 

Article   12
Employers may recruit any unemployed National and shall, in such a case,notify the Labour Departmentin writing within 15 days from recruitment date. Suchnotification shall specify the employee's name and age, thedate of employment, the specified wage,the type of work assigned to him, and the number ofhis registration certificate.

Article 13
Non-Nationals may not be employed in the United Arab Emirates without the prior approval of theLabour Department and before first obtaining an employment permit inaccordance with the procedures and regulations laid down by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.Such permit shall   not be granted unless the following conditions are fulfilled:

(a)  That the worker possesses professional competence or educational qualification the country is in need of.
(b)  That the worker has lawfully entered the country andsatisfied the conditions prescribed in the residence regulations in force.

 Article 14
The Labour Department may not give its approval to theemployment of non-Nationals until it is satisfied that there are no unemployed Nationals registered with the employment section who are capable ofperforming the work required.

Article   15
The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs may cancel awork permit granted to a non-National in the following cases: 

(a)         (a)     If the worker remains unemployed for more thanthree consecutive months.
     (b)     If theworkerno longer meets one or more of the conditions on the basis of which the permit was granted. 
     (c)     If it is satisfied that a particular National is qualified toreplace the non-National worker, in which case the latter shall remainin his job until the expiry date of his employment contract or of his employment permit, whichever is earlier. 

Article   16
There shall be established within the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs a special section for the employment of non-Nationals, whose functions shall be specified ina ministerial resolution.

Article 17
It shall not be permissible for any natural or legal personto serve as agent for recruitment or supply of non-National workers unless he is duly licensed to do so. Such a licence may only be issued to Nationals and incases where its issue is considered necessary, and it shall beissued by order of the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs. 

A license shall be valid for a renewable period of one year,and the licensee shall be subject to the Ministry's supervisionand control.No such a licence shall be granted if a placement office affiliatedto the Ministry or to an authority approved by the Ministry isalready operating in the area and is able to act as an intermediary in the supply of labour.

Article 18
No licensed employment agent or labour supplier shalldemand or accept from any worker, whether before or after the latter’sadmission to employment, any commission or material reward in return for employment, or charge him for any expensesthereby incurred, except as may be prescribed or approved bythe Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

Persons supplied by an employment agent or labour supplier shall, immediately upon assuming employment, be regarded as employees of that employer and shall have all therights of the employees of the firm in which they areemployed. They shall relate directly with their employer,without any involvement on the part of theemployment agent, whose function and relationships withthem shall   cease as soon as they are supplied to andemployed by the employer.

Article 19
The Minister of Labour and Social Affairs shall prescribe, by virtue of ministerial resolutions, the rules, procedures and forms to be adhered to by private and public employment agencies, the manner of coordination of the activities of these agencies, and the conditionsfor licensing privateemployment agenciesand labour suppliers. TheMinister shall   also   issue   resolutions   prescribing   theoccupational classification tables, which shall serve as a basis for recruitment. 

SECTION   II  Employment of Children

 Article 20
It shall not be allowed to employ children under the age of 15. 

Article   21
Before employing a child, an employer shallobtain the following documents and keepthem in his personal file: 

1-                1-   A birth certificate, or an official extract thereof, or age estimation certificate, to be issued by a competent medical officer and authenticated by the competent
health authorities.
           2-    A certificate of medical fitness for the required workissued by a competent medical officer and duly authenticated.
           3-    A written consent from the child’s guardian ortrustee.

Article 22
The employer shall keepat the workplace a special register of children, showing each child’s name andage, full name of his guardian or trustee, thechild’splace of residence and date of employment, and thejob on which he is employed.

 Article 23
No child shall be made to work at night in anindustrial enterprise. The term "at night" refers to a period of not less than twelve consecutive hours, including the period from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. 

Article 24
No child shall be employed on any job that ishazardous or detrimental to health, as defined in a resolution by the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, after consulting the concerned authorities.

Article 25
The maximum working hours for childrenshall be six a day, intercepted byone or more breaks for rest, food or prayer, which shallamount in aggregate to not less than a full hour. Such break(s) shall be so arranged that no child shall work for more than four successive hours. No child shall remain at the workplace for more than seven successive hours.

Article 26
Children shall under no circumstances be required to work overtime, orto remain at the workplace after their prescribed working hours, or be employed on a rest day. 

SECTION III    EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN 

Article 27
No women shall be required to work at night. The term "at night"refers to a period of not less than eleven successive hours, including the period from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.

Article 28
The prohibition of night work for womenshall not apply in the following circumstances: 

(a)      (a)    Where work in the firm is disrupted by a force majeure. 
    (b)      Executive managerial and technical staff.
  (c)      Work in such health services and other business as may bespecified in a resolution by the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, if the female worker is not normally engaged in manual work.

Article 29
No women shall be employed on any job that is hazardous,arduous or physically or morally detrimental or on any other work as may be specified in a resolution by the Minister of Labour andSocial Affairs, after consulting the concerned authorities. 

Article 30
A female worker shall be entitled to maternity leave with full pay for a period of forty five days, including both pre and post natal periods, provided that she has completed not less than one year of continuous service with her employer.A female worker whohas notcompleted the aforesaid period of service shall be entitled to maternity leave with half pay.

 A female worker who has exhausted her maternity leave may be absent from work without pay for a maximum period of100 consecutive or non-consecutive days if such absence is due to an illness preventing her from resuming her work. A medical certificate issued by a duly authorized medical institution or authenticated by the competent health authority confirming that the illness is a result of pregnancy or delivery shall document such illness. The leave provided for in the preceding two paragraphs shall not be deducted from other leave periods. 

Article 31
During the 18 months following her delivery, a femaleworker nursing her child shall, in addition to any prescribed rest period, be entitled to two additional breaks each day for this purpose, neither of which shall exceed half an hour.

These two additional breaks shall be considered as part ofthe working hours and shall not entail any reduction ofwage.

Article 32
A female wage shall be equal to that of a male if she performs the same work.

SECTION   IV  Rules Common to Employment ofChildren and Women 

Article 33
The Minister of Labour and Social Affairs may resolve that charitable and educational institutions be exempted from all or some of the provisions of the preceding two Sections of this Chapter, if the objective of such institutions is to provide vocational training or education for children or women, and provided that the internal regulations of such institutions shall specify the nature of activities undertaken by children and women at these institutions, and their employment terms and working hours, in a manner that is not incongruent with the actual endurance of children and women. 

Article 34
The following persons shall be held punitively responsible for observance of the provisions of Sections II and III of this Chapter:
 a.  Employers or their representatives.
 b.  A child’s guardian or trustee, a woman’s husband or guardian, or a minor woman’s trustee - who consents to the employment of children or women contrary to the provisions of this Law.