Faculty and Staff Leave Policy
Policy
All University of Dubai staff are entitled to various types of leaves. All employee leave/absences are documented and applied to through the WebHR system.
The University leave policies strive to provide all employees with a clear and fair set of guidelines through which everyone is treated in a consistent manner and abuses of the system are prevented in every way possible.
If the employee’s leave application is on pending status, not applied or not in the system, and not approved by the line manager, the employee will not be permitted to commence the leave. The employee is responsible for following up with their Line Manager about the leaves. Otherwise, the system will consider it unpaid leave. The Line Manager should delegate the leave approval responsibility to someone else if they are unavailable.
1. Types of leaves
1.1 Annual Leave
Annual leave is accumulated on an accrual basis; upon completion of the probationary period an employee may opt to take their annual leave up to the accrued balance in part or whole. Annual leave may not be used until it is accrued. An employee’s accrued annual leave balance is not to exceed their annual entitlement for a given year. A maximum of 10 days of annual leave balance can be carried forward to the following year in which the leave should be availed. If not, previous year’s annual leave balance will be forfeited. Remaining balances at the end of the academic year are not paid out to the employee, and exceptions are made for first-year employees and at the discretion of management.
UD non-academic staff are entitled for 22 working days as annual leave per year to be utilized during the same academic year. This needs to be planned in consultation with the employee’s line manager. Encashment of unused leaves will not be entertained.
UD faculty members are entitled to 60 calendar days of annual leave per year and are expected to utilize it in the same academic year. This needs to be planned in consultation with their respective line manager. No request for the encashment of leaves will be entertained and leave will not be carried over to the following year and will be considered fulfilled
The Faculty 60-day annual leave includes winter and spring breaks.
In the case public holiday(s) fall within the winter or spring breaks, faculty members will not be compensated.
Annual leave requests are granted at the discretion of the management. Managers are responsible for scheduling vacations in a manner that promotes the efficient operation of the unit and allows employees to utilize their annual leave accrual. Units should attempt to accommodate the needs of any preferences of employees.
All annual leave requests must be applied for in advance and are subject to the Line Manager and University management approval. The management reserves the right to revoke approved annual leave requests subject to the operational needs of the University.
Annual leave days are not accrued while an employee is on unpaid leave during his/her probation period.
1.2 Sick Leave
All confirmed employees are eligible for sick leaves in accordance with the UAE Labor Laws. Presently, the Labor Law states that an employee will receive full pay for the first fifteen (15) days, and half pay for the following thirty (30) days and no pay for any additional days of sick leave taken per annum.
Should an employee feel unable to attend work due to sickness, he/she should report this to the line manager and HRD before 8:30 am. If the employee is too incapacitated to call personally, he/she should request another person to call do on their behalf.
Upon resumption of duties all employees are expected to provide a medical certificate(s) attested by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) or other government health authority as per the local jurisdiction encompassing the sick days availed. Undocumented sick days will be recorded as annual leave (paid or unpaid).
If an employee does not recover from his/her sickness, he/she may be terminated due to unfitness of health once he/she depletes all UD sick leave and annual leave as per the labor law article 46.
1.3 Bereavement Leave
In the case of death of an immediate family member, employees may take bereavement leave with permission from the HRD. The employee should receive full pay for the duration of their authorized bereavement leave, not to exceed five (5) days for 1st-degree (Husband/Wife) relatives and three (3) days for 2nd-degree (Child/Parents/Siblings/grandparents etc.) relatives starting from the date of death. Any leave in excess of five days shall be considered either annual leave or leave without pay.
1.4 Maternity Leave
Maternity leave is permitted due to pregnancy resulting in the birth of a child to an employee. The employee (female, married) will be entitled to forty-five (45) days with full pay in addition to fifteen (15) days (half pay) per academic year in accordance with current UAE labor law. Maternity leave is granted upon request at any time, starting from the last day of the month preceding immediately the month in which she is expected to give birth, and this shall be proven by a certificate issued by the medical entity. After returning from maternity leave, and for a period of not more than (5) months from the date of delivery, the female worker shall be entitled to one or two breaks a day to breastfeed her child, provided that the two breaks do not exceed one hour. Other maternity privileges are applicable as per the UAE Labor laws.
1.5 Parental Leave
The University offers the parents five (5) days of Parental Leave to be taken within six (6) months from the day of delivery.
1.6 Study Leave
In support of the University’s commitment to the continued professional development of its workforce, an employee studying for exams is provided with the equivalent of one (1) day’s paid study leave per half day of examinations, up to maximum of five (5) days per academic year. Study leave requests require the approval of the management as long as the area of study is relevant to the employee’s position at the University of Dubai.
1.7 Conference/Official Leave
An employee shall be granted paid leave for attending a conference that has been approved by the UD management. The management approval is still required to grant the employee a paid conference leave even if the conference fees are covered by the employee. The University retains the right to decline the employee’s leave request to attend a conference which is not of its interest or may ask the employee to apply for the leave days as part of his/her annual leave or as a leave without pay.
Official leave is granted only in the event the University requires the employee to be out of the office for work related issues.
1.8 Occasional One-Day Leave
The University will recognize one-day of paid leave for all administrative staff members in conjunction with the occasion of Birthday, Christmas, or Diwali. This means that a staff can choose to take one (1) day leave per year for birthday, or Christmas, or Diwali but not for two or three occasions per year. This leave is to be utilized at or in proximity to the actual day (within one month). Please note that this leave is granted once per year and will not be carried forward to the next year.
1.9 Hajj (Pilgrimage) Leave
UD Muslim employees can avail thirty (30) days unpaid leave for the performance of Hajj (pilgrimage) once throughout their service with the University. This leave can be combined with the annual leave.
1.10 Patient Escort Leave
A UD employee is eligible up to three (3) months paid leave to accompany his/her first/second-degree and in special cases third-degree relatives for critical medical treatment outside UAE, in case no treatment in UAE was available for the case based on an official certified medical report. This leave can be extended if necessary and will be paid with basic salary.
In both cases, the employee must submit an attested DHA report and supporting document for escorting.
1.11 Emergency leave
Up to three (3) days (max) in a year, upon submission of Medical and/or Hospitalization certificate. It applies to hospital admission cases inside the country only.
1.12 Emergency Hours (Applicable to staff only)
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UD grants the employees 8 hours per month to meet any personal emergency (medical or health issues/ hospital appointments/ accidents/ bank appointments/valid reason), considering that it will not exceed two hours per day. It requires the line manager’s approval with documents for validation.
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The employee must inform the HRD and the line manager during the onset of the emergency through calls or emails, failure to notify on the same date and time will result in rejection.
1.13 National Service Leave
UD employees going on National Service Leave are granted full pay for the duration of their service upon submission of the required documents from the National Service.
1.14 Spouse Escort
An Emirati UD Employee is eligible to an unpaid leave to escort their spouse to live with him/her if he/she was sent for an official mission, scholarship, or study, or he/she was transferred to a job outside the country, or sent to a job with one of the international or regional bodies, agencies, or organizations, provided that the period of this leave does not exceed the period prescribed for the delegation or work outside the country.
1.15 University Business Trip
An employee may be granted paid leave for visiting another university or organization outside the UAE, provided the trip is approved by UD management. Even if the travel expenses are covered by an external entity, management approval is still required for the employee to receive paid leave. The University reserves the right to deny leave requests for visits not related to University activities. Paid leave will only be granted if the University requires the employee to be out of the office for an official visit
2. Leave Documentation and Recording
All types of leaves must be documented and recorded via the WebHR system. The leave request form is to be completed by the employee through the leave system and sent to the line manager for approval before it is forwarded to the HRD for processing and approval. The HRD will make sure that all leave requests are maintained in the employee’s personal files. .
3. General Provisions During Leave
During the faculty/ staff leave, an out of the office message should be set on both the telephone voice mail and email indicating the return date and the person to be contacted during the employee’s absence, to handle any urgent duties. It is important that the telephone and email are directed to the replacement employee during the leave.
Furthermore, before the start of the leave period, the employee must ensure adequate handover of his/her duties and pending assignments to the replacement employee to ensure smooth operations during his/her absence.