UAE maternity leave update for 2026 – Legal Amendments

Last Updated on September 3, 2026 by Dubai Tax & property

Here is an important maternity leave update for 2026 from the UAE.

Also Read : UAE’s New Legal Profession Law Made Simple: Federal Decree Law No. 34 of 2022 Explained

The Federal National Council has recommended that the government should extend the leave for the maternity sector to a full 98 days of paid leave, which aligns with the international labor standards.

It is a recommendation as of now and not a law yet.

Currently in the private sector the maternity leaves are 60 calendar days only, with 45 days of full pay and 15 days of half pay, which comes under Article 30 of Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021.

There is no minimum service requirement when it comes to female employees who are eligible for maternity leave from the day one of their employment.

Talking about the timing rules, it would come down to 60 days, which can be taken before or it can be taken after the delivery.

It comes with the full entitlement starting no later than the delivery date.

It is to be noted here that an employer cannot force an early return from the maternity leaves from those who have taken maternity leaves.

The early return is allowed but only on one condition: when an employee writes a written request which is also voluntarily written and not forceful.

There is also a provision for an extended unpaid leave for a mother’s illness if there is a case in which a mother gets ill after the delivery, which is up to 45 additional unpaid days.

However in this situation it is required and mandatory that a medical certificate be produced to the employer of the hospital in order to show the validity of the disease.

There are times when people get sick more than they believe they should be.

In those cases if there is a child’s medical condition or a child’s disability, the mother is not supposed to leave them at pay and that’s a separate thing.

In that case also 30 days of full pay can be given after the maternity leave ends and, in addition to that, a further 30 days unpaid if required, but it would again require a medical certificate.
There is a further provision in case miscarriage occurs after the 24th week, that is, 6 months, or during the pregnancy. At this juncture the mother is entitled to a full 60-day maternity leave.

For nursing breastfeeding breaks, one or two daily breaks, which can total up to one hour for six months after returning to work, can be given. Breaks will be fully paid in such situations and will be counted as working hours.

Not just maternal leaves, there is also a provision for paternity leave. Five working days of paid leave in the private sector will be given to fathers, which comes under Article 32, Subsection 1.

Within six months of the child’s birth those paid leaves can be taken consecutively or separately and are non-refusable by the employer.

It is also a job protection clause to save these employees from the wrath of the employers. It says that it would be illegal to terminate or penalize an employee just because he was on pregnancy or maternity leave. As we have seen cases where, due to maternity leave or pregnancy leave, some employees were laid off.
In the government sector the comparison is a little different.

The government employees would get 60 to 90 days of maternity leave and 3 to 5 days of paternity leave, depending upon the Federal or Emirate-specific rules.

However these rules, as you can see, are more generous in the private sector than in the government sector.

In case there is a special child who needs special attention, there is a special provision given in the government sector.

The federal Dubai government employees would get childcare leave from the end of maternity leave until the child turns one year old so that proper attention can be given to his upbringing.

There are free zone variations as well. For example DIFC and ADGM have their own leave frameworks that differ from mainland UAE Federal law.

There are several FNC additional proposals under discussion as well, which would mandate the flexible remote work for mothers of children under 10 to 12 years old, allowing the maternity leave to be split in cases of premature birth and similar cases like those.

It is certainly to be noted that the pay would be based on a pay calculation basis. For example maternity paternity leave pay will be calculated based on salary that is basic salary plus fixed allowances.

It is very important to note here that the applicability of this maternity leave is independent of the nationality and contract type. Whether it is full time, part time, temporary or flexible, it applies to everyone.

It does not matter what is the length of the service. Even if someone has joined one day and wants to take the maternity leave, she should be given and the same goes for other people who have been working for more than ten years or so.