Khaleej Times, Saturday, Feb 25, 2023 | Sha'ban 05, 1444
Unlimited annual leaves in UAE: How some employees are benefitting from additional vacation days
Emirates:
An ‘unlimited’ annual leave policy is the latest trend globally as companies
look to attract and retain talent. Although rare, some companies in the UAE and
the wider Gulf region offer the incentive as part of a larger benefits package.
By law, employees in the UAE are entitled to a fully paid annual leave of 30
days if they have completed one year of service.
Citing a recent study carried out in the Middle East, James Toye, a consultant
at global recruitment agency Hays, said only 2 per cent of employers said they
offer unlimited annual leave as a standard benefit. However, about one in four
employers offer additional vacation days above the standard annual leave,
according to the recruitment specialist’s research.
On the other hand, only 4 per cent of employees said that unlimited annual leave
is a benefit they value.
One company in the UAE that offers the policy is Dubai-based super app Careem.
In an interview with Khaleej Times, Kai Sin Tan, director of Rewards and
Benefits at Careem, said the company offers an unlimited leave policy to provide
“colleagues with the flexibility they need to accommodate personal circumstances
while meeting the exceptionally demanding requirements of their jobs”.
“It’s part of our wider colleague value proposition which includes a flexible
hybrid of in-office and home days and the opportunity to work from other
locations for 30 days per year.”
How it has benefitted employees
Tan highlighted how the policy helped one employee spend an additional month
abroad in her home country with her family. She hadn’t seen her family in two
years due to Covid-related travel restrictions and by the time they eased, she
had used up her annual leave allowance as stipulated by the UAE labour law.
“Another colleague needed to travel for a family emergency abroad but only had a
few days left in the annual leave allowance. By utilising the unlimited leave
benefit, (the colleague was) able to extend the stay and take additional time
off to support the family,” said Tan.
Yet another employee had planned his wedding in one of two locations and booked
time off for it well in advance, but the date changed frequently due to Covid-19
travel restrictions.
How it works
Simply put, employees are not limited by a capped number of vacation days
throughout the year.
“Once colleagues pass the probationary period and utilise all of their regular
vacation days, they can apply for additional vacation days beyond what is
guaranteed by UAE labour law at any time of year through Careem’s internal
systems, the same way they would apply for their regular vacation days. The
benefit does not require any extra rounds of approvals, and colleagues simply
align with their managers on the upcoming workload and when a good time to be
off is. Every colleague at Careem is entitled to this benefit, regardless of
their role, seniority level, or location,” said Tan.
In practice, the policy is not about colleagues taking a lot of time off, but
rather “about changing people’s mental relationship with leave days”.
The terms and conditions are the same as those of regular vacation days. “When a
colleague applies for additional time off, they need to have the necessary
discussions with their line manager to ensure that work will not be affected,
and consider appropriate cover.”
The flip side
Tarek Salam, head of Mena Expansion at global HR platform Deel, said some
employees may take advantage of the policy by requesting excessive time off, or
use it as a way to extend long weekends or holidays. This could impact
resources, productivity, and ultimately, the company's bottom line.
Toye highlighted how the policy could potentially place additional pressure on
the team when a colleague is on leave. However, “if the team is well-coordinated
and organised, they can take turns and manage the workload”.
Another potential drawback is that, if employees do not have anyone to delegate
tasks to, work may be delayed until they return from their annual leave. “To
address this issue, companies may require employees to complete urgent tasks
before taking their leave.”