UAE labour law changed fundamentally in 2022, and the details have been refined by a steady stream of ministerial resolutions since. For an employer, the obligations span the whole employee lifecycle — the contract, working hours, leave, wage payment, end of service — and getting any of them wrong now carries real fines in a more heavily enforced environment. This guide sets out the key employer obligations under the current law, with the numbers that matter, framed for someone running payroll and HR rather than for a lawyer.
| Governing law | Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 |
| Working hours | 8/day or 48/week |
| Annual leave | 30 days after 1 year |
| Sick leave | Up to 90 days (tiered pay) |
| Probation (max) | 6 months, no extension |
| Wage payment | Through WPS by the 1st of the month |
The governing framework
Private-sector employment across the UAE mainland and most free zones is governed by Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Employment Relationships, which took effect on 2 February 2022 and replaced the 1980 labour law. It is supported by Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022 (the Executive Regulations) and a series of ministerial resolutions that fill in the operational detail. Penalty provisions were amended by Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2024. A contract can offer more than the statutory minimum, but it cannot remove or reduce a right the law grants.
One structural change from the old law: the distinction between limited and unlimited contracts is gone. All employment contracts are now fixed-term, renewable, and must be registered with MOHRE.
The employment contract and onboarding
Before an employee can start, several things must be in place, and the sequence matters:
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| MOHRE work permit (labour card) | Must be issued before the employee starts work |
| Employment contract | Fixed-term, registered with MOHRE, stating salary, role, hours, probation |
| Residence visa | Employer-sponsored on the mainland; typically 2 years, needs medical fitness test |
| Emirates ID | Mandatory for all residents, via the ICA |
| Medical insurance | Compulsory in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah |
MOHRE classifies workers into five skill levels, which matter for both onboarding and Emiratisation. Skill Level 1, for example, requires a minimum monthly salary of AED 10,000 and a relevant degree.
Working hours and overtime
The standard working week is 8 hours per day or 48 hours per week (Articles 17 and 65). Employees should not normally work more than five consecutive hours without a break, and different limits apply to certain sectors, shift systems, and approved flexible-working arrangements. Overtime is payable where an employee works beyond standard hours:
| Overtime type | Rate (on basic hourly wage) |
|---|---|
| Standard overtime | 125% |
| Weekend / rest-day / public-holiday overtime | 150% |
| Maximum overtime | 2 hours per day |
During Ramadan, working hours are reduced by two hours a day for the standard working population.
Leave entitlements
The core statutory leave obligations are:
| Leave type | Entitlement |
|---|---|
| Annual leave | 30 calendar days after 1 year; 2 days per month between 6 and 12 months (Article 29) |
| Sick leave | Up to 90 days after probation: first 15 days full pay, next 30 half pay, remaining 45 unpaid |
| Maternity leave | 60 days: 45 full pay, 15 half pay |
| Parental leave | 5 working days for both parents |
| Public holidays | As announced federally each year |
Unused annual leave is normally paid out on the basic salary when employment ends.
Probation
The maximum probation period is six months under Article 9, and it cannot be extended or renewed. The notice rules during probation are asymmetric and catch employers out:
| Situation | Notice required |
|---|---|
| Employer terminates during probation | 14 days' written notice |
| Employee leaves the UAE during probation | 14 days' notice |
| Employee moves to another UAE employer | 1 month's notice (new employer may owe recruitment costs) |
Wage payment — WPS
Wages must be paid through the Wage Protection System (WPS), and in 2026 the rules tightened significantly: under Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026, salaries for the previous month are due by the 1st of each Gregorian month with no grace period, and an establishment must transfer at least 85% of wages on time. This is a compliance event with an automatic escalating penalty clock, so it is worth treating as a hard deadline in the payroll calendar. Wage protection is covered in full in our dedicated WPS guide.
End of service
When employment ends, the employer owes end-of-service gratuity (21 days' basic wage per year for the first five years, 30 days thereafter, on basic salary only) plus any unpaid wages, notice pay, and accrued leave — all payable within 14 days of the last working day under Article 53. Gratuity is covered in detail in our end-of-service guide.
Termination and dismissal
Termination must be for a valid reason and generally requires 30 to 90 days' notice depending on the contract. Summary dismissal without notice or gratuity is only available on the narrow grounds listed in the law (Article 44) — and employers should be cautious, because "arbitrary dismissal" under Article 47 (broadly, dismissal in retaliation for a legitimate complaint) exposes the employer to compensation of up to three months' wages. The grounds for no-notice dismissal are specific and should not be assumed.
Anti-discrimination and workplace conduct
The law prohibits discrimination on grounds including race, colour, sex, religion, national origin, and disability, and it prohibits harassment and forced labour. Equal pay for equal work between men and women is a statutory requirement. These are enforceable obligations, not aspirations.
Common employer mistakes under UAE labour law
- Letting an employee start before the work permit is issued — the permit must be in place first.
- Trying to extend probation beyond six months — it cannot be extended.
- Missing the WPS deadline — the 1st of the month is fixed, with no grace period since Resolution 340.
- Assuming summary dismissal is easy — the no-notice grounds are narrow, and arbitrary dismissal is costly.
- Paying leave encashment on gross rather than basic — it is calculated on basic salary.
- Skipping mandatory medical insurance in emirates where it is compulsory.
Why compliance is easier on a connected system
UAE labour law turns the whole employee lifecycle into a sequence of dated obligations: a permit before day one, a registered fixed-term contract, leave accruing at statutory rates, wages clearing through WPS by the 1st, and gratuity plus final dues within 14 days of exit. When contracts, leave records, payroll, and WPS files sit in separate systems, keeping every obligation aligned — and provisioning gratuity correctly along the way — is manual and easy to let slip.
When UAE HR and payroll run on a single database, leave accrues automatically at the statutory rate, the WPS file is generated from live salary data to clear by the deadline, gratuity accrues from the same basic-salary record, and the final settlement is computed from one source of truth. This is how Helion handles UAE compliance inside a multi-country platform. For a company running the UAE alongside India and Singapore, one system applying each country's distinct employment rules keeps every jurisdiction compliant.
This guide reflects UAE private-sector labour law for 2026 under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022, and subsequent ministerial resolutions, including the WPS changes under Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026. Free zones may have variations, and DIFC and ADGM operate their own employment laws. Rules can change; figures are current as of 2026. This is general information for employers, not legal advice or a substitute for guidance from MOHRE or a qualified UAE employment professional.