The Legal Nature of Vocational Training Contracts under UAE Law

Analysis

Training contracts are defined at Article 42 of the Federal Labour Law No.8 of 1980 (as amended) as a contract whereby a company undertakes to provide full vocational training consistent with professional standards to another person (who is at least 12 years of age), who in turn undertakes to work for the employer during the training period subject to any terms and period as mutually agreed.

However the question of the legal nature of a training contract appears to be controversial. Some legal jurists consider it a labour contract, irrespective of the purpose of the contract (training only). This view is based on the existence of dependency in the said contract.

Others regard it as a mixed contract based on the existence of both work and training in the said contract. The third view, which is the prevailing opinion, is that training contracts are of a special nature. They are not labour contracts (despite the existence of a wage, period and dependency) because of the difference in the purpose of the contracts.

The Labour Law