Part time Jobs in UAE: All You Need to Know About Your Legal Rights

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If you're an expat in the UAE who has a valid residence visa and work permit, you should be aware that to start a part-time job, you've to get approval from the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) to work part-time in another company.

Now, many questions pop into your mind: Is there any maximum limit in the hourly rate I get from the part-time employer? What if I receive a higher salary from my part-time employer? Is it legal if my full-time employer pays me less salary?

This article is a complete guide on part-time jobs in UAE:

A person must fulfill the following conditions to be able to start a part-time job while being already employed in the UAE:

  • If the individual's regular employer (i.e., the first full-time employer) is also sponsoring the individual's residence in the UAE, he or she must first receive a no-objection certification or 'NOC' to that effect.
  • The person must then sign a written contract (the "Part-Time Contract") with the subsequent part-time employer; and
  • The individual's subsequent part-time employer must then procure a "part-time work permit" from the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (the "MOHRE").
The terms of the Part-Time Contract permit an employee to work for the first part-time employer for less than eight hours a day or 48 hours a week. Those work hours, however, cannot be fewer than 20 hours a week. This is consistent with Article 3 of the Part-Time Employment Law, which states:

"The employee has the following options under the part-time contract:

  • To work for the original employer (first part-time employer) for less than eight hours per day or less than 48 hours a week, provided that working hours do not fall below 20 hours per week.
  • To work concurrently with more than one employer (second part-time employer) without the approval of the original employer or any other employer with whom he is employed."
Furthermore, the MOHRE must inform all of an individual's daily and part-time employers in the UAE, as stated in Article 7 of the Part-Time Employment Law: "The ministry notifies every employer (original or secondary) about any new employer of the employee, upon obtaining by the latter a work permit from the ministry. The employee covenants to notify every employer he works with about the same."

Furthermore, according to Article 6 of the Part-Time Employment Law, an employee hired on a part-time basis is entitled to annual leave, end-of-service payments, and all other compensation commensurate with his or her working hours with the corresponding part-time employer.

Article 10 of the Part-Time Employment Law applies to an employee who works full-time for a subsequent part-time employer. It states that "if the Part-time Contract is chosen, converting it to a permanent contract is not permitted until the Part-time Contract is canceled, and each party has the right afterward to join some desired kind of contract."

Salary & Payment Provisions

The Part-Time Employment Law includes no rules relating to a maximum average hourly remuneration paid by an employer to an employee. The employer and employee must follow the terms and conditions outlined in the part-time job contract they signed and registered with the MOHRE.

Any clauses of the employment contract or any implied understanding between the employer and the employee that are more beneficial to the employee shall be to the employee's benefit.

This complies with Article 7 of the Employment Law, which states that "Terms inconsistent with the provisions of this Law including those whose effective date may precede the enforcement of this Law shall unless they are proved more beneficial to the employee, be deemed null and void."

Furthermore, you are supposed to be paid depending on the amount of hours and days you work with your first employer.

This is in line with Part-Time Employment Law Article 6 (a), which states: "The original employer shall be liable for the employee's annual leave and end-of-service gratuity as well as any other financial obligations in proportion with the actual work hours and the wage received by the employee."

According to the above legal clause, your original employer is required to pay you the remuneration specified in your employment contract. If the original employer refuses to give you payment for the total amount of hours/days you worked for the original employer, you can file a complaint with the MOHRE.

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