Ask the Law: Hotels not exempted from overtime pay rule

The maximum hours of work of adult workers shall be eight a day or 48 a week

I have been working for more than three years at a hotel in Dubai on an unlimited labour contract. My offer letter states that my working hours per day would be nine. However, now my duty manager is asking me to work for 10 hours per day but without any overtime pay. He told me that in the hotel industry, employees are not entitled to overtime pay as per the labour law because the nature of work in a hotel is different from other companies. My hotel is under the Labour Ministry’s law. I do not mind working overtime but my employer must pay for that. I would like to know whether the time taken for transportation from our company accommodation in Ajman to our hotel in Dubai (place of work), which takes about two hours, and back included in the hours of work. Do we have the right to ask for overtime pay for this period? Please advise.

I would like to clarify to the questioner that Article 65 of the UAE’s Labour Law (Federal Law No. 8 of 1980) states the following: “The maximum normal hours of work of adult workers shall be eight a day or 48 a week. The hours of work may be increased to nine a day in commercial establishments, hotels and cafés and of guard duties and any other operations where such increase is authorised by the order of the Minister of Labour. The daily hours of work may be reduced in the case of arduous or unhealthy operations by the order of the Minister of Labour.
“The normal hours of work shall be reduced by two during the month of Ramadan.
“The periods spent by a worker in travelling between home and the place of work shall not be included in his hours of work.”
Therefore, the employer has violated provisions in the above-mentioned article of the UAE Labour Law as the hours of work as specified in the questioner’s contract is nine. If the employer refuses to pay for the overtime hours, the questioner shall file a complaint with the Ministry of Labour (Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation) in this regard. Finally, hotels as per the UAE Labour Law are not exempted from paying for overtime work to their employees.

Questions are answered by lawyer Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba, of Al Shaiba Advocates and Legal Consultants