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UAE: How many breaks can employees take during work hours?

A KT reader wants to know what the UAE employment law says about taking a break during shifts

Question: What does the UAE employment law say about employees taking breaks during work hours? My colleagues and I work for a mainland UAE company. Whenever we take a break, our boss tells us to return to work as we are expected to use the full 9.5 hours productively. Please advise.

Answer: In the UAE, an employee is entitled to break(s) between working hours (if required in intervals) which may be not less than one hour in aggregate.

Furthermore, an employee may not work for more than five (5) consecutive hours in a day without a break. This is in accordance with Article 18 of the Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Employment Relations (the “Employment Law”), which states, “The employee may not work over five (5) consecutive hours without one or more breaks which shall amount in aggregate to not less than one hour, provided that such break(s) shall not be calculated as part of the working hours. Working hours and breaks in the Establishment shall be regulated by shifts, or for certain categories depending on their nature – such as on-site positions – and as per the manpower classification specified in the Executive Regulations of this Decree-Law.”

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In addition, the maximum working hours for an employee in the UAE should not exceed 8 hours per day or 48 hours per week. This is in accordance with Article 17(1) of the Employment Law: “The maximum normal working hours for employees shall be (8) eight hours per day or (48) forty-eight hours per week.”

Additionally, an employer calling upon an employee to work for more than eight hours without any overtime payment may lead to employment by force.

This is in accordance with Article 14(1) of the Employment Law, which states, "An employer may not use any means susceptible of obliging or forcing the employee, or threatening him with any penalty, to work for him, or forcing him to do a work or deliver a service against his will."

Based on the aforementioned provisions of law, you as an employee may not work for more than five consecutive hours without taking breaks and overall you may avail one hour of break time per working day.

Moreover, your employer may not call upon its employees to work for more than 48 hours per week without paying overtime as it will amount to a violation of provisions prevailing in the Employment Law.

Therefore, you may inform your employer that you are only supposed to work for eight hours in a day or 48 hours in a week and between working hours you can avail of one hour of break probably divided into two or three breaks so it will not affect your efficiency as well. In the event that your employer disagrees with you, you may consider filing an employment complaint with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation.

Ashish Mehta is the founder and Managing Partner of Ashish Mehta & Associates. He is qualified to practise law in Dubai, the United Kingdom and India. Full details of his firm on: www.amalawyers.com. Readers may e-mail their questions to: news@khaleejtimes.com or send them to Legal View, Khaleej Times, PO Box 11243, Dubai.

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