What it means
Sick leave is authorised time away from work because an employee is ill or injured, and whether it is paid, partly paid or unpaid depends on the governing employment rules and contract. The UAE private-sector rule discussed here applies to illness not caused by work injury, which has separate provisions, so employers in free zones or other regimes should confirm the law that actually covers their workers.
The UAE government's sick-leave guidance says a covered employee who has completed probation may take up to 90 days, continuous or intermittent, per year of service, with the first 15 days at full pay, the next 30 at half pay and the remaining 45 unpaid. The exact leave record matters because an employee may use days across multiple episodes, so the full-pay tier should not restart for every new medical certificate.
During probation, the covered worker is not entitled to paid sick leave under the cited law, but the employer may grant unpaid sick leave based on a medical report indicating the need. A company can check whether its own contract offers better terms, subject to the applicable law, and "No statutory paid leave in probation" should not be turned into "the employer must refuse time off." Article 31 of the UAE employment law requires the worker to notify the employer of a non-work-related illness within three working days and submit a medical report from a medical entity, while the government's summary page phrases the period as three days.
For a live case, read the controlling law and current implementing rules rather than relying only on a short website summary. A clear company process should tell workers whom to notify and how to submit a report.
An employee's privacy matters: HR may need a medical document to administer leave, but line managers do not necessarily need a diagnosis, so records should be stored securely with limited access. A workplace should communicate staffing cover without sharing sensitive health details, and advice about fitness to work should come from an appropriate medical source where necessary.
HR can also track an absence rate, which can reveal a pattern but does not tell you why someone was absent or whether a particular illness was genuine. Payroll needs a leave balance that distinguishes full-pay, half-pay and unpaid days, since a worker may cross from one tier to another during a single pay period, and the calculation should be checked against basic and other wage components as the applicable rules require rather than a generic percentage of total salary.
Work injuries require separate handling, because the government's sick-leave page explicitly excludes sickness caused by occupational injuries or hazards from its ordinary rule, so an employer should not simply consume an injured worker's ordinary 90-day balance, and should record the event and obtain specialist advice where facts are disputed. A company policy should state notification, documentation, pay tiers and how HR records intermittent leave, and it should explain whom to contact when an employee is hospitalised.
It should be published in a language staff can understand, and where a contract offers more generous terms it should make the difference clear rather than quietly applying a lower statutory minimum. For a UAE private-sector employer the working rule is the Article 31 framework, not a universal global entitlement, and a clear process avoids both underpayment and unsupported assumptions about staff illness.
In practice
Real-world examples.
Example
An employee takes 5 days of paid sick leave with a medical report. All 5 days fall inside the 15-day full-pay tier, so HR pays full wages for the period. The leave record shows 10 full-pay days still available that year.
Example
A long illness moves into half-pay sick leave. After the employee has used 15 days at full pay, payroll switches the next days to half pay and updates the balance. The employee is told in writing how many half-pay days remain.
Example
HR tracks absence rates by team. A team with 120 sick days over 6,000 scheduled working days shows a rate of 2%, in line with the company average. The figure prompts a conversation about workload only if a pattern appears, and it says nothing about any individual's illness.
Formula
Calculation
Absence rate = Sick days taken / Total working days x 100. Define whether the denominator includes part-time schedules and public holidays.
Worked example. 400 sick days out of 20,000 scheduled working days gives 400 / 20,000 x 100 = 2%.
For the pay tiers, suppose an illustrative daily pay of $100 and note that the actual pay basis depends on the law and contract. An employee who takes 40 sick days in a year is paid 15 days at full pay ($1,500) and 25 days at half pay (25 x $50 = $1,250), a total of $2,750. An employee who takes 60 days is paid 15 full-pay days ($1,500), 30 half-pay days (30 x $50 = $1,500) and 15 unpaid days ($0), a total of $3,000. The unpaid tier begins only after 15 + 30 = 45 days, and the 90-day maximum is the sum 15 + 30 + 45.Case study
Seen in the real world.
This illustrative and entirely fictional case follows Harbour Logistics, an invented UAE employer with inconsistent payroll treatment of intermittent sick leave. HR checks coverage and medical reports, tracks full-, half- and unpaid tiers, and reconciles each employee's balance to payroll. The process is reviewed for privacy and fairness; lower absence or perfect compliance is not assumed. One fictional employee takes 12 days in March, 10 days in June and 8 days in September, each backed by a medical report, a total of 30 days.
Payroll had restarted the full-pay tier each time, paying all 30 days in full at an illustrative $100 a day, or $3,000. Under the cumulative approach, the first 15 days are paid in full ($1,500) and the next 15 at half pay ($750), a total of $2,250, so the earlier method overpaid by $750. HR corrects future payments, documents the rule in the policy and explains the balance to the employee.
Watch out
Common mistakes.
- Restarting the full-pay allowance with each separate illness.
- Applying ordinary sick-leave tiers to a work injury without checking separate rules.
- Sharing medical details more widely than needed for leave administration.
Questions
People also ask.
What is sick leave?
Authorised time off for illness or injury under applicable employment rules.
How much is allowed in the UAE?
For covered non-work illness after probation, up to 90 days per year of service: 15 full-pay, 30 half-pay and 45 unpaid.
Is it paid during probation?
The cited UAE law does not require paid sick leave during probation; unpaid leave may be granted on medical evidence.
From the founder's library
Take it further with the book.
Build your financial confidence beyond this definition. Shihan's full-length guide, Accounting Fundamentals, takes the same plain-English approach and turns it into a complete, practical playbook for non-finance managers, business owners and students - with chapter-end quiz answers and presentation slides included.
25% off with code MMHQ25, applied at checkout. Priced in USD - checkout may show the equivalent in your local currency.
View the book and save 25%