Employment contract
MOHRE-covered private-sector employment starts with a worker-accepted standard job offer followed by a Ministry-form, registered fixed-term contract. Since the 2022 amendment, the contract needs a defined term but no universal three-year cap. State role, workplace, hours/rest, wage/allowances, leave, probation, term, notice and termination; later terms cannot undercut the offer or mandatory law. Government, military/police, domestic work and some financial-free-zone employment use separate regimes.
Probation
Probation is capped at six months and cannot be extended again. Employer termination requires at least 14 days’ written notice; a worker moving to another UAE employer generally gives at least one month, while departure generally requires at least 14 days, with statutory recruitment-cost rules addressed. Probation counts toward continuous service and does not remove wage, hours, safety or discrimination protection.
Hours, rest & overtime
Normal hours are eight/day and 48/week. After five consecutive hours, provide breaks totalling at least one hour, normally outside working time. Ramadan reduces every private-sector employee’s day by two hours. Overtime is normally capped at two hours/day and paid from the basic hourly wage plus at least 25%; work from 22:00–04:00 generally adds 50% (shift exception). Rest/public-holiday work receives substitute rest or normal-day pay plus at least 50% of basic wage. Check sector, supervisory and special-shift scope separately.
Minimum wage by region
The Labour Law has no universal minimum wage for every employee; “no minimum for expats” must not imply there is no Emirati floor. From 1 January 2026, new, renewed or amended private-sector Emirati permits require AED6,000/month; existing salaries had to be adjusted by 30 June, with Emiratisation-counting and new-permit measures from 1 July. Visa thresholds, GPSSA bases and market pay are separate from this minimum.
Salary & talent supply
The AED6,000 Emirati floor, an immigration income test or a free-zone package is not a professional market offer. Keep dated samples by emirate/workplace, sector, job family, seniority, basic wage, fixed allowances, housing/transport, bonus and total cash. Gulf-platform data, one-city vacancies or immigration thresholds are not a UAE-wide median.
Payroll, payslip & payment
MOHRE-registered establishments generally pay the full contractual wage through WPS when due. If no period is stated, pay at least monthly; payment is normally late after the first 15 days following due date unless the contract sets a shorter period. Wages may be AED or another contractually agreed currency. Reconcile wage, overtime, deductions, unpaid leave, bank/exchange receipt and WPS file per worker; listed WPS exclusions are not an employer-wide opt-out.
PIT withholding & social insurance
UAE wages currently have no federal personal-income-tax withholding, but employer cost is not zero. Eligible private-sector Emiratis under Law 57/2023 use 26% of contribution salary: 11% employee and 15% employer, generally on AED3,000–70,000; government bears 2.5 employer percentage points below AED20,000. Pre-31 October 2023 insured cohorts may remain under Law 7/1999 and its AED50,000 cap, so new-law rates cannot be mixed into them. Expats generally do not enter GPSSA but still trigger health, employee-purchased unemployment insurance, injury and gratuity controls.
Employer-cost calculator scope
The UAE calculator is a Law 57/2023 new-cohort Emirati budget estimate only: it applies 11% employee/15% employer to the AED3,000–70,000 base and does not automatically net the 2.5% government support below AED20,000. Expats show zero GPSSA, but health insurance, visa/permit, WPS, injury, unemployment insurance, gratuity accrual and the alternative savings scheme are excluded. It does not cover old-law members, Abu Dhabi/other local pension regimes or payroll filing.
Annual leave
A full-time worker receives at least 30 days’ full-wage annual leave after one year; from over six months to under one year, two days accrue per month, with statutory pro-rating for the final partial year. Employers normally give at least one month’s leave-date notice. Carry-over, cash substitution and exit balance use separate law/regulation and basic-wage rules. Part-time leave is hours-proportional under a separate statutory calculation.
Public holidays & overtime
Workers receive paid Cabinet-declared public holidays. Required holiday work earns another day off, or the normal wage for that day plus at least 50% of the day’s basic wage. Weekly rest, public holidays, the day already embedded in monthly pay and the premium must be reconciled separately; not every red day is simply “double pay.”
Family & medical leave
After probation, annual sick leave is up to 90 days: 15 full-pay, 30 half-pay and 45 unpaid. Maternity leave is 60 days (45 full-pay and 15 half-pay), with up to another 45 unpaid days for qualifying birth-related illness and extensions for a sick/disabled newborn. Either parent receives five paid working days within six months after birth. Bereavement is five days for a spouse and three for parents, children, siblings, grandparents or grandchildren. Eligibility, evidence, payer and Hajj/study leave remain separate.
Statutory & market benefits
Statutory wage, leave, overtime, health coverage, injury protection, GPSSA for eligible Emiratis and expat gratuity are not optional benefits. Health-insurance coverage extended across all emirates from 1 January 2025; the AED320 basic package is the specified Sharjah/Ajman/UAQ/RAK/Fujairah scheme, not one premium for Dubai, Abu Dhabi or every role. Eligible workers generally buy unemployment insurance themselves, with exceptions including owner-investors, temporary workers, domestic workers, minors and pensioner re-hires. A 13th salary/bonus is payable only if promised.
Termination & disputes
A fixed-term contract may end for listed statutory events or a legitimate reason with written notice; contractual notice is 30–90 days and the contract continues during it. Summary dismissal requires a listed ground, written investigation and reasoned notice. Unlawful dismissal is not every “without-cause” exit: the law specifically protects retaliation for a serious MOHRE complaint or valid lawsuit, with court compensation capped at three months’ wage plus notice, arrears and gratuity. All termination dues are generally settled within 14 days.
Contractor classification
A worker performs for wage under employer administration or supervision; a consultant/freelancer label, invoice, remote arrangement or free-zone permit cannot override actual subordination. Assess control, personal service, time/place, tools/costs, economic risk, client plurality and integration. A genuine freelancer supplies independent services under their own permission; misclassification can create wage, leave, overtime, insurance, permit and gratuity exposure.
Foreign workers
An offer, employment contract, trade licence, Emirates ID or residence filing does not authorise early work. Before start, the genuine employer obtains the MOHRE/zone permit, registered contract and residence matching role, workplace and work model; part-time, multiple-employer, family-sponsored, Golden and freelance cases use their A2 route. Employers bear recruitment, visa, travel and in-country medical/residence processing costs and cannot shift them to workers. Exit coordinates permit/residence cancellation or transfer without passport retention.
Recruiting channels
Job, wage, duties and location must be truthful, and screening must avoid prohibited race, colour, sex, religion, nationality/social-origin, disability and similar grounds. Use eligible recruiters and ensure zero worker-paid recruitment fees. For establishments with 50+ workers, skilled-job Emiratisation continues at one percentage point net growth each half-year/two annually to 10% in 2026; separately check targeted 20–49-worker sector rules. Platform traffic is not a “best channel”; measure by role, emirate, qualified rate, cost, permit success and retention.
Retirement age
UAE private-sector labour law does not provide one mandatory retirement age usable for every local and expatriate worker. Emirati pension eligibility, continued employment and GPSSA registration are separate; expatriate continuation follows work-permit, professional, insurance and employer-policy conditions. A pension age is not automatic contract termination, and permit renewability is not guaranteed re-employment.
Employment compliance calendar
At hire: offer/contract, permit, identity, Emiratisation, GPSSA, health cover and zero recruitment fee. Monthly: WPS, attendance/overtime, deductions, GPSSA (generally by the 15th next month) and savings scheme. Half-yearly: one percentage-point skilled-job Emiratisation net growth for covered 50+ employers. Annually: leave, insurance, WPS/labour files, permits and OSH review. At exit: notice/investigation, 14-day settlement, gratuity/savings, permit/residence and establishment-record impact; retain owner, deadline, receipt and exception for each control.