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Will Your Commuting Time In UAE Be Counted As Working Hours?

by Deeplata Garde
Will Your Commuting Time In UAE Be Counted As Working Hours?

Spending hours in traffic wanting to reach work as soon as possible is one struggle we face every day. And the pay cuts for running late are an add-on disaster. UAE has always considered people’s problems. Hence, commuting delays would fall under working hours according to a directive published recently by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation. But this initiative comes with conditions applied to follow.

Time Spent In Commute Will Fall Under Working Hours Only In Certain Cases

The majority of low-skilled workers spend a significant amount of time in transit, especially when multiple corporations provide labourer housing in remote places to save money.  There are some situations when you can count your travel to work as your official working hours, whether you reside one metro stop away or all the way in Sharjah. According to the new UAE labour legislation, there are three scenarios in which your commute to work will count toward your operating hours.

Also Read: UAE Has Revised New Labour Laws; Here’re The Laws For Those Working In The UAE

traffic in UAE
Credits: Pixabay

Conditions Apply

Article 15 of the Cabinet Resolution examines how the law forms the operating hours. They verified that delays caused by various factors should be a part of an employee’s working hours.

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  1. The worker has been delayed owing to severe weather and warnings from the National Centre of Meteorology about probable weather variations.
  2. If the employee is travelling in an employer-provided vehicle that breaks down or crashes.
  3. If both the employer and the employee understand and agree that commuting time should fall under working hours.

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The new rule allows both parties in a commercial agreement to choose the appropriate working conditions while retaining their rights. Employees cannot work above two hours of overtime each day. Unless an avert major damage or an accident occurs, according to the legislation.  Employees’ total working hours should not surpass 144 hours in any given three-week period.