Termination of employment in UAE

Analysis

With the end of the school year imminent, this article explores some of the issues relating to termination of employment in the education sector, both by the education institution and by the employee. As employers in the education sector will appreciate, this can often be a tricky issue due to the various, and not always consistent, contractual documents, regulations and laws applicable to education institutions.

Governing law

The overarching law governing most employment relationships in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is Federal Law No. 8/1980, as amended (UAE Labour Law).

The UAE Labour Law distinguishes between limited and unlimited term contracts. Unlimited term contracts are fairly flexible in that they can be terminated at any time by the provision of contractually agreed notice (which must be at least 30 days) for a "valid" reason