Supporting Organisational Justice through a Legal Framework for Performance Appraisal in the United Arab Emirates: Management Case and Comparison with the French System

Abstract

The article outlines the regime for performance appraisal, as it applies to organisations operating in an emerging economy like the United Arab of Emirates (UAE). To this end, the management literature on performance appraisal is reviewed, as a strategy to pursue organisational justice and productivity in an equitable work environment. An analysis is also supplied of the regulatory framework of a civil law system with which many Arab jurisdictions bear historical vicinity—that of France—to ascertain a possible frontier of further legislative development. The paper situates performance appraisal—and the need for regulation—in the context of managerial strategies to enhance organisational justice, in order to align the goals of companies and their employees. The existing regime for performance appraisal in the UAE reveals a less than comprehensive legislative infrastructure, compared to that of a mature economy like France. For this reason, the paper advances suggestions for its further development.