UAE Labour / Employment LawCabinet Resolution No. (27) of 2020 On the Remote Work System in the Federal Government

Article (1) Definitions In application of the provisions of this Resolution, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings assigned thereto, unless the context indicates otherwise: State : The United Arab Emirates. Government : The UAE Government. Cabinet : The Cabinet of the United Arab Emirates. Federal Entity : Any ministry established in accordance with Federal Law No. 1 of 1972 concerning the Competencies of Ministries and Powers of the Ministers,

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Cabinet Resolution of 2020 Concerning the Remote Work System in the Federal Government 2 and the amendments thereof; and any federal body, institution or regulatory agencies of the Government. Chairman of the Federal…

Article (2) Scope of Application This Resolution shall apply to current and new national employees eligible to work remotely as determined by the federal entities, in coordination with the Authority and in accordance with the HR procedures and electronic systems approved in the Federal Government.

Article (3) Types of Remote Work 1. Part-time Remote Work: Where the employee can, at the request of his employer, divide his work-time between the main workplace and remote workplace in equal or different proportions per day, week or month.

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Cabinet Resolution of 2020 Concerning the Remote Work System in the Federal Government 3 2. Full-time Remote Work: The jobs that can be performed completely from outside the official workplace.

Article (4) Objectives This Resolution aims at: 1. Providing multiple work options for employees and their entities to achieve a better work-life balance, in a way that does not affect the employer’s goals. 2. Attraction and retention of talented persons. 3. Reducing the federal entities’ operational costs. 4. Providing governmental service outside official working hours. 5. Creating new unconventional jobs.

Article (5) Criteria for Choosing Jobs Suitable for Remote Work The Federal Entities shall, upon determining the jobs suitable for remote work, abide by the following criteria: 1. The jobs shall be divisible. 2. The jobs shall be automatable. 3. The jobs shall require specific inputs to be handled by electronic systems. 4. Any other criteria determined by the Entity in collaboration with the Authority. In all cases, job suitable for working remotely shall be determined in coordination between the entity and the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources.

Article (6) Mechanism for Choosing Employees to Work Remotely 1. Employees may be selected to work remotely in suitable jobs in accordance with the following criteria: a. The employee shall be occupying a job that can be performed remotely;

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Cabinet Resolution of 2020 Concerning the Remote Work System in the Federal Government 4 b. The employee has not been subject to any administrative penalties for breach of Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct for Civil Service. c. The employee shall be honest and abide by quality and accuracy of work in addition to confidentiality of information. d. The employee has attained at least ‘Meets Expectations’ rate in the last performance app…

Article (7) Methods and Mechanism for Implementing the Remote Work System Federal entities shall make sure, while choosing remote jobs, that the outputs of these jobs are delivered through the following mechanism: 1. Follow-up and delivery of outputs are made through electronic methods. 2. Implementation is done individually.

Article (8) Obligations of the Federal Entity Implementing the Remote Work System The Federal Entity shall make sure that the following elements are available: 1. Identifying an efficiency measurement mechanism, and setting standards, mechanisms and standard time frames for each activity and outcome to be chosen. 2. Ensure the availability of a safe technological environment to carry out remote working, taking into account the controls related to maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of data and codifying the powers to access the systems. 3. Ensuring the feasibility of implementing the remote work system in the entity. 4. Providing an electronic method to follow up the employees who wo…

Article (9) Appointment An employee working remotely shall be subject to the same rules and controls stipulated in Human Resource Law and its Executive Regulations.

Article (10) Probationary Period for New Employees A new employee who is appointed under remote work system shall be placed on probationary period for six (6) months, renewable for three (3) months. At the end of probation period, the employee shall undergo a performance review by the immediate supervisor to assess his/her capabilities in the light of productivity and performance criteria, to either recommend regular appointment of the employee or termination of employment.

Article (11) Salaries and Financial Benefits Salary and grade scales for a Federal Government employee appointed on remote work system shall be subject to salary and grade scales approved for the Federal government employees as issued by the Cabinet Resolution.

Article (12) Performance Appraisal of Employees Working Remotely Notwithstanding the provisions of Performance Management System for the Federal Government employees, performance of an employee working remotely shall be assessed according to the following elements: 1. Productivity, based on number of outcomes, tasks achieved out of target, and number of deliverables. 2. Quality of outputs in terms of accuracy of deliverables. 3. Meeting deadlines for delivering tasks within the time frame specified in the contract and percentage of abidance by the plan in agreement with the employer.

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Cabinet Resolution of 2020 Concerning the Remote Work System in the Federal Government 6 4. S…

Article (13) Promotions An employee working remotely shall be promoted according to the rules and controls stipulated in the Federal Government’s Human Resource Law and its executive regulations, and in compliance with the approved Employee Performance Management System.

Article (14) Transport An entity may decide to transfer a remotely working employee to his/her original workplace, and vice versa, internally or to any other entity, based on the requirements of work interest and in accordance with provisions of transport in Federal Government’s Human Resource Law and its executive regulations.

Article (15) Leave An employee working remotely shall be entitled to all leaves specified by the Human Resource Law in the Federal Government and its executive regulation.

Article (16) General provisions 1. An employee working remotely shall undertake to sign the following: a. The Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct for Civil Service Document. b. Confidentiality of Information Document attached herewith. c. Agreement prohibiting subcontracting of Third parties attached herewith. 2. The provision of Human Resource Law in the Federal Government, its executive regulations, and other related rules shall apply to any matter not provided for in this Resolution.

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Cabinet Resolution of 2020 Concerning the Remote Work System in the Federal Government 7

Article (17) Publication and Enforcement This Resolution shall come into force as of the date of its issuance and shall be published in the Official Gazette. Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Prime Minister Issued by Us: On: 08 Sha'ban 1441 AH Corresponding to: 02 April 2020 AD

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Cabinet Resolution of 2020 Concerning the Remote Work System in the Federal Government 8 Appendix 1 Undertaking of Data and Information Confidentiality and Security For the purposes of maintaining the security and confidentiality of data and information in the entity, regardless of its source or nature, and whether that information is kept on paper, computer or any other means. Based on the provisions of…