United Arab Emirates: Federal Decree Law No. 20-2023

Federal Decree Law No. 20-2023 was issued amending some articles of Federal Decree Law No. 33-2021 regarding regulating labor relations

Pursuant to the provisions of this decree, the text of Article (54) of Federal Decree Law No. (33) of 2021 regarding regulating labor relations will be replaced by the following text.

1- If the employer, the worker, or any person entitled to them disputes over any of the rights accruing to either of them under the provisions of this decree law, he must submit a request to that effect to the Ministry, which shall examine the request and take what it deems appropriate to settle the dispute between them.

2- The Ministry shall settle the dispute with a final decision if the value of the claim that is the subject of the dispute does not exceed the amount of 50,000 dirhams, or when the dispute is related to the failure of either party to comply with the amicable settlement decision previously issued on its subject by the Ministry, regardless of the value of the claim.

3- The Ministry's decision issued in the dispute in accordance with its powers stipulated in Clause No. 2 of this Article shall have the force of an executive document and shall be marked in the executive form in accordance with the usual procedures. Neither party to the dispute may file a lawsuit before the competent court of appeal to consider the subject of the dispute within 15 working days from the date of being notified of the decision. The court will set a session to consider the lawsuit within 3 working days and decide on it within 15 days of filing the lawsuit. The ruling issued by the court of appeal will be final and conclusive. If a lawsuit is filed, the implementation of the decision must be suspended.

4- If an amicable settlement is not possible within the period specified by the executive regulations of this decree, in cases other than those stipulated in Clause No. 2 of this article, the Ministry must refer the dispute to the competent court, and the referral must be accompanied by a memorandum that includes a summary of the dispute, the arguments of the two parties, and the Ministry's recommendation.

5- The Ministry may, during the course of the dispute, oblige the employer to continue paying the work wage for a maximum period of two months if the dispute causes the cessation of payment of the worker's wages in accordance with the executive regulations of this decree law.

6- By decision of the Minister, it is permissible to impose procedures or other administrative measures on the establishment to avoid the fact that the existing individual dispute leads to the occurrence of a collective labor dispute that harms the public interest.

7- The competent court must, within three working days from the date of receipt of the request, set a session to consider the case in which both parties to the dispute are notified and the court decides it quickly.

8- The competent court must not accept the case if the aforementioned procedures are not followed.

9- The lawsuit for any of the rights resulting under the provisions of this decree law shall not be heard after one year has passed from the maturity of the right subject to the claim.

10- This decree will be effective as of January 1, 2024 after its publication.

Then, Ministerial Resolution No. 782/2023 was issued regarding regulating labor complaints procedures in continuation of the above-mentioned Decree-Law, with the aim of clarifying and detailing the procedures adopted regarding labor complaints in accordance with the provisions of Decree-Law 20/2023.

Whereas, based on the above ministerial decision, Article No. 1 specified the procedures for individual labor complaints, which allowed the worker and the employer to file a labor complaint within 30 days of any of them breaching his obligations under a contract.

Work, law, regulations, or decisions applicable to others. The Ministry must decide on the complaint within 14 days.

In the second article, which noted the procedures adopted in examining the labor complaint in which the dispute does not exceed the amount of 50,000 dirhams or which was settled amicably.

According to this article, the Ministry is responsible for issuing a final decision regarding the complaint if the value of the claim does not exceed 50,000 dirhams or if an amicable settlement was reached between the parties to the contract, regardless of the value of the claim. The Ministry's decision regarding what is stated in Clause 1 of Article One shall have the force of an executive document in accordance with the procedures in force in the judicial authorities.

However, in order to preserve the rights of the parties, the decision permitted the parties to file a lawsuit before the competent court of appeal to consider the subject of the dispute within 15 days from the date of notifying the party of the Ministry's decision issued in the dispute. The complaint may be waived at any time before the Ministry's final decision is issued.

Then came Article Three of the above-mentioned decision, which clarified the procedures for individual labor complaints in which the value of the claim exceeds fifty thousand dirhams.

Article No. 3 clarifies that if a settlement between the parties to the dispute is not possible and its value exceeds 50,000 dirhams, it is the responsibility of the Ministry to refer the dispute to the competent court in accordance with the normal procedures followed in relation to labor lawsuits.

This decision became effective on January 1, 2024 after its publication in the Official News paper .

Through what was stated above, especially in the terms and provisions of Decree Law 20/2023, and then after Ministerial Resolution No. 782/2023 came, which clarified and defined the procedures in accordance with the above, whether related to unique disputes whose value does not exceed the amount of 50,000 dirhams, and whether regarding disputes whose value exceeds the amount 50,000 dirhams, and most importantly, the decree law and then the decision made the Court of Appeal the first authority to consider the dispute in the event that none of its parties accepts the committee's decision, as both of them may register a case before the competent court of appeal to consider it according to normal litigation procedures to consider it within 15 days.

On the other hand, if the value of the dispute exceeds 50,000 dirhams and it is not possible to settle it between its parties, the Ministry will refer the dispute for consideration by the competent court in accordance with normal litigation procedures.

From a typical perspective, these procedures would facilitate reaching solutions to the issue of the dispute by the best means, whether administrative, through the ministry and the period specified therein for adjudicating and issuing a decision on the dispute.

Whether through judicial procedures at the Court of Appeal or at the competent court within specific periods to settle the dispute.

This will ensure that stakeholders obtain and preserve their rights in the best and easiest way.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.