Dubai Forums Dubai Expat Forums Dubai Expat Help Forum

Hi all, I am in the middle of negotiating my end of service benefits with my employer in Dubai. I have recently learnt that my employer is obliged to pay overtime if an employee works for more than the 48 hour week, and not in a managerial/senior position according to UAE labour law.

I fly a lot for work as requested, sometimes I spend a whole week away across the region. My company pays my accommodation and personal costs in this time. Do you believe I am entitled to overtime compensation for the time I have spent away from home on behalf of the business?

I seriously doubt it, given that you've incurred no personal costs during these trips. It really depends what is in your labour contract.

Thanks for the response. There is nothing about overtime in my labour contract, nor international travel. My reasoning is that if I can prove if I am regularly requested to spend time away from home on business, I can request/negotiation compensation for personal time at home/with family I have lost to travel? It sounds fair to me, but I am wondering if anyone else shares my experience.

Yeah they don't go for that here. It'll be, well that's part of your job. Plus given that many people working here don't see their families for YEARS, I don't think you really have an argument there.

Thanks for the advice. I will play it by ear and see how it goes.

If your travel is paid and you are given a per diem to cover food etc., I doubt they'll pay you overtime for all the hours you spend in airplanes and in hotels etc. I figure that they assume that if you took a job that includes a lot of travel you would have negotiated any compensation before accepting the position.

kanelli , understood, however it was not communicated to me when I signed the contract, the role seems to have evolved that way based on the business demand. Anyway I have raised the request lets see what happens.