Dear All,
According to UAE labor law, employees are entitled to 30 days of paid annual leave if their service exceeds one year. Our company is an interior design firm, and 85% of our workforce consists of blue-collar employees. The issue I face is that when these employees go on their annual vacation, very few adhere to the authorized leave duration as agreed upon in the leave form. Instead, everyone takes their own time to return. I am seeking advice on how to address this situation - would rewarding employees for coming back on time or penalizing them for being late be a viable solution? Your insights and guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
From United Arab Emirates, Dubai
According to UAE labor law, employees are entitled to 30 days of paid annual leave if their service exceeds one year. Our company is an interior design firm, and 85% of our workforce consists of blue-collar employees. The issue I face is that when these employees go on their annual vacation, very few adhere to the authorized leave duration as agreed upon in the leave form. Instead, everyone takes their own time to return. I am seeking advice on how to address this situation - would rewarding employees for coming back on time or penalizing them for being late be a viable solution? Your insights and guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
From United Arab Emirates, Dubai
Hello Disney,
I believe it has to be a combination of both choices - reward and penalty. Either one alone usually leads to other consequences or situations, opening the scope for fresh problems while trying to solve one. Moreover, not all rewards or penalties need to be necessarily financial.
Regards,
TS
From India, Hyderabad
I believe it has to be a combination of both choices - reward and penalty. Either one alone usually leads to other consequences or situations, opening the scope for fresh problems while trying to solve one. Moreover, not all rewards or penalties need to be necessarily financial.
Regards,
TS
From India, Hyderabad
As Mr. TS advised, we can implement both a reward and penalty approach. For example, we may organize a welcome gathering function within their own department shortly after their vacation. The date of this function should be scheduled and announced to the employee when their leave is approved. This function can serve as an incentive for them to plan their return.
One idea is to plan the function on the 35th or 36th day and present a small memento in recognition of their one-year completion. This is my suggestion, and I welcome input from experts to enhance this approach.
Thanks,
Pons
From India, Madras
One idea is to plan the function on the 35th or 36th day and present a small memento in recognition of their one-year completion. This is my suggestion, and I welcome input from experts to enhance this approach.
Thanks,
Pons
From India, Madras
I was working for a large construction company in Oman with around 20,000 expatriates on the payroll, and I was the Manager of Expatriate Affairs. We used to book round-trip tickets for employees in the worker category. If a worker-category employee did not return as per the leave schedule, we immediately sent a letter to the address on record, placed it in the personal file, canceled the return ticket, and closed the employee's file. This process worked well. Employees at least used to communicate in case they needed to postpone their travel. :)
From Oman, Muscat
From Oman, Muscat
Dear Ravi,
Thank you for responding. In my last company, we used to book the tickets, and employees used to return on time. To handle this ticketing system, we need to have a dedicated person, which the company is not willing to have. Here we have a total of 90 employees, and the company's policy is to pay ticket money by cash. So, all the problem. You are aware of the Middle East working environment, so kindly advise.
Best Regards,
Disney
From United Arab Emirates, Dubai
Thank you for responding. In my last company, we used to book the tickets, and employees used to return on time. To handle this ticketing system, we need to have a dedicated person, which the company is not willing to have. Here we have a total of 90 employees, and the company's policy is to pay ticket money by cash. So, all the problem. You are aware of the Middle East working environment, so kindly advise.
Best Regards,
Disney
From United Arab Emirates, Dubai
Hello Disney,
No need to go for rewarding process. You should make a policy like if any employee has any LOPs (Loss Of Pay), their increment for the next year would be decreased by 5% from the actual increment. It's better to implement LOPs if any employee does not report in time. This approach is helpful for the employer as it allows for the reduction of costs from monthly salaries and creates awareness of the effects of LOPs.
Thank you.
From India, Visakhapatnam
No need to go for rewarding process. You should make a policy like if any employee has any LOPs (Loss Of Pay), their increment for the next year would be decreased by 5% from the actual increment. It's better to implement LOPs if any employee does not report in time. This approach is helpful for the employer as it allows for the reduction of costs from monthly salaries and creates awareness of the effects of LOPs.
Thank you.
From India, Visakhapatnam
Hi Disney,
Prepare Leaves and Vacation Policy for your company.
The employee who fails to return to his work on the scheduled date after vacation, shall be considered absent without permission.
Employee should notify his Manager and HR in written (by email/fax) with the reason of the delay and his excepted date of return.
Upon employee returns to his work, if the company does not accept his reason for the late return or he failed notifying his Manager and HR of his delay, the absence days will be treated as absence without permission and the employee will subject to the prevision of the company’s Violation and Penalties Schedule.
Regards
From Saudi Arabia, Riyadh
Prepare Leaves and Vacation Policy for your company.
The employee who fails to return to his work on the scheduled date after vacation, shall be considered absent without permission.
Employee should notify his Manager and HR in written (by email/fax) with the reason of the delay and his excepted date of return.
Upon employee returns to his work, if the company does not accept his reason for the late return or he failed notifying his Manager and HR of his delay, the absence days will be treated as absence without permission and the employee will subject to the prevision of the company’s Violation and Penalties Schedule.
Regards
From Saudi Arabia, Riyadh
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