Stephenson Harwood employment partner Kiersten Lucas and senior associate Emily Aryeetey, alongside Littleton Chambers of counsel Edward Kemp, have co-authored the employment law chapter of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Academy of Law's text book, 'Laws of the DIFC - Volume 1'.

The 'Laws of the DIFC – Volume 1', published by LexisNexis, is the first in a series of commentaries that were commissioned by the DIFC Academy of Law on the laws of the DIFC. It provides an annotated overview of six key DIFC laws, including the DIFC employment law.

The DIFC employment law has evolved significantly in recent years, particularly in relation to: protection from discrimination and victimisation, the end of service gratuity regime and the implementation of the new DIFC employee workplace savings scheme, family friendly rights, and settlement agreements and changes to the penalty regime. A number of the potential challenges identified by the team regarding the interpretation and application of the DIFC employment law have been reflected in the recent public consultation issued by the DIFC Authority on any further proposed amendments to the law.

The team had previously contributed to the first edition of this publication in 2016. As a result of its previous contribution, alongside this recent update, the team has been awarded the honorary title of 'Specialists in DIFC Employment Law' by the DIFC Academy and LexisNexis Middle East.

Further contributions were made by Stephenson Harwood London-based partners Anne Pritam and Philip Goodchild, and senior associate Katie Hewson.