Dubai: RTA Update Rules for Outdoor Advertising

Khaleej Times, 15 August 2024: Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has released an updated manual governing outdoor advertising across the city

The 112-page Out-of-Home (OOH) Advertising Manual which has been issued in collaboration with Dubai Municipality and Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism covers areas including the types of images, measurements, lighting, dimensions, locations, which can be used for outdoor advertising.

Signages must not obstruct building facilities and emergency exits. The required clearance area will be determined according to the type and capacity of escapes from exits.

Signs should be oriented in a way that does not create headlight reflections in a driver’s line of sight. It is advised advertisers angle a sign five degrees away from right angle to the driver’s line of sight to minimise headlight reflections.

Signage or signage structure must not protrude onto road carriageways or paved parking surfaces..

All freestanding signage within row must not overhang over the road carriageway, and should be setback from the carriageway at a reasonably safe distance. There must also be a reasonably safe vertical clearance from the level of the carriageway or footpath.

Certain freestanding signs must be setback at a reasonable distance from traffic signals.

Advertisements must not imitate a traffic control device such as traffic lights.

Certain freestanding large and medium advertisements (such as unipole or megacoms) must not have dominant colours that compete with the colour of large traffic signs (including directional, tourist and information signs)/ Advertisements must not contain reflectors, which could be mistaken for a traffic control device at night.

Advertisements should not contain messages that are distracting or otherwise inconsistent with road safety.

They should also be legible and a clear font of at least 150mm high is advisable.

Advertisements should not contain large areas of red display if they are illuminated as in wet, night-time conditions these could be confused with traffic lights or vehicle lights.

Finally, video and animated signs, including any signs which contain any portion of video and/or animated content, will not be approved on road reserves or if they are visible to drivers.

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Dubai: Court Order to Pay Salaries in E-Currency

Khaleej Times, 18 August 2024: A Dubai Court has ordered an employer to pay an employee’s outstanding dues in UAE currency and cryptocurrency. The employee had filed a claim for arbitrary dismissal. Their employment contract stated that their monthly salary was to be paid in UAE dirhams and Ecowatt Tokens, which is a form of cryptocurrency.

The Dubai Court of First Instance Case, DCFI Case No. 1739/2024 ruled, in favour of the employee on their wrongful termination, and ordered the company to also pay the 5,250 EcoWatt token portion of the salary for six months in the cryptocurrency.

Salary payments in the UAE need to be registered with the WPS system, which only operates with AED. This case involved additional employee benefits which in this case included the Project Tokens. The company had not provided evidence of payment of the amount due to the claimant for the claimed months in EcoWatt tokens.

In 2023, under judgement number 6,947, the court had ruled in a dispute where part of the employee’s salary was to be paid in EcoWatt tokens. In that case the court acknowledged the inclusion of token in the employment contract, but ultimately refused the award amount in EcoWatt tokens.

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Dubai: Four Day Week Trial

Khaleej Times, 7 August 2024: Government Authorities in Dubai have announced the launch of a pilot to reduce the working hours in participating government entities during the summer.

The Dubai Government Human Resources Department (DGHR) has stated it will also see work on Fridays suspended.

The ‘Our Flexible Summer’ initiative will see work hours reduced to seven hours at 15 government entities in Dubai from 12 August to 30 September 2024.

Most government employees in Dubai have a two-and-half-day weekend (Friday half-day, Saturday and Sunday) at present this initiative, will see employees at participating government departments having a longer weekend for a period of seven weeks.

The DGHR has not specified which entities will be part of the pilot scheme, but explained it aims to “enhance workplace flexibility”.

The DGHR will then gauge the impact of the initiative on employees and overall productivity.

Sharjah, which already has a three-day weekend, has previously stated its employees reported an 88 per cent increase in productivity.

The DGMR will produce a final report summarising the initiative’s outcomes, recommendations, and adaptability to various government entities.

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