UAE Labour Law: A Plain-English Guide for Private-Sector Employees

Published · by JOBB GROUP FZE

If you work for a private company in the UAE, your rights and obligations at work are mostly set by one law: Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations, often just called “the UAE Labour Law”. It came into force on 2 February 2022, replaced the old Federal Law No. 8 of 1980, and has since been amended, most recently by Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2024. Its detailed rules sit in an implementing regulation, Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022.

This guide explains, in plain English, what the law says about the things employees ask about most: contracts, probation, hours, leave, pay, resigning, termination and complaints. It reflects the law and its official consolidated text as published by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE), checked in November 2026. Article numbers are given so you can look up the exact wording.

Does the UAE Labour Law apply to you?

The law applies to establishments, employers and workers in the UAE private sector, whether the worker is a UAE national or an expatriate (Article 3). Several groups are outside it:

  • Government employees at federal and local level, who have their own human resources laws.
  • Members of the armed forces, police and security services.
  • Domestic workers, such as housemaids, nannies and private drivers employed by a household. They are covered by a separate law, Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022, as amended by Federal Decree-Law No. 21 of 2023.

The Cabinet can also exclude other categories.

Two financial free zones have their own employment legislation: the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has the DIFC Employment Law No. 2 of 2019, and the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) has the ADGM Employment Regulations 2024. ADGM’s own guidance states plainly that the federal Labour Law does not apply in ADGM. If your employer is registered in DIFC or ADGM, read their rules rather than this guide.

The quick reference table

Topic What the law says Article
Contract type Fixed (specified) term, renewable; renewals count as continuous service 8
Probation Up to 6 months, once per employer 9
Normal working hours Maximum 8 hours a day or 48 hours a week 18
Overtime Maximum 2 hours a day; paid at basic wage plus at least 25%, or at least 50% between 10 pm and 4 am 19
Weekly rest At least one paid rest day a week 22
Annual leave 30 days a year; 2 days a month if service is between 6 and 12 months 29
Sick leave Up to 90 days a year after probation: 15 full pay, 30 half pay, the rest unpaid 31
Maternity leave 60 days: 45 at full pay, 15 at half pay 30
Parental leave 5 working days within 6 months of the birth 32
Notice period At least 30 days, no more than 90 days 43
End-of-service gratuity 21 days’ basic wage a year for the first 5 years, 30 days after that, for expatriates with 1+ year of service 51
Final payment Within 14 days of the contract ending 53
Non-compete Maximum 2 years after the contract ends 10

Your employment contract

Under Article 8, employment contracts are concluded for a specified period and can be renewed. The old distinction between “limited” and “unlimited” contracts no longer exists for new contracts. Two points are worth knowing:

  • If your contract is renewed or extended, the new period is added to your earlier service, so your service counts as continuous.
  • If the contract expires and both you and your employer simply carry on working, the original contract is treated as implicitly extended on the same terms.

The law also recognises different work patterns (Article 7): full-time, part-time (working for one or more employers for a set number of hours), temporary work tied to a period or task, and flexible work where hours or days change with the workload. Your contract should say which pattern applies, because some entitlements, including end-of-service benefits, are calculated differently for part-time work.

Two employer obligations matter when you are joining: the employer may not charge you recruitment or employment fees or collect them from you (Article 6), and the employer may not keep your official documents, such as your passport (Article 13).

Probation

An employer can put you on probation for up to six months from your start date, and only once with the same employer (Article 9).

  • If the employer ends your contract during probation, it must give you written notice at least 14 days before the termination date.
  • If you want to leave during probation to join another employer in the UAE, you must give written notice of at least one month. The law says the new employer, not you, compensates the original employer for its recruitment costs, unless agreed otherwise.
  • If you are an expatriate and want to leave during probation in order to leave the UAE, you must give written notice of at least 14 days.

Whichever side breaks these notice rules must pay compensation equal to the wage for the notice period.

Working hours, overtime and rest days

Normal working hours are capped at 8 hours a day or 48 hours a week (Article 18). You should not work more than five consecutive hours without breaks that total at least one hour (Article 17).

Overtime is allowed, but it may not exceed two hours a day, and total hours must stay within 144 hours every three weeks (Article 19). Overtime pay is:

  • the basic wage for those hours plus at least 25%;
  • plus at least 50% if the overtime falls between 10 pm and 4 am (this higher rate does not apply to shift workers);
  • if you work on your rest day, the employer must give you a substitute day off or pay that day’s basic wage plus at least 50%.

Every worker is entitled to at least one paid rest day a week (Article 22).

Leave you are entitled to

Annual leave

After a full year of service you get 30 calendar days of paid annual leave a year. If you have worked more than six months but less than a year, you earn two days for each month (Article 29). Leave can be carried forward to the next year with your employer’s agreement, and if you leave the job with unused days, the employer must pay you for them.

Sick leave

Once you have passed probation, you can take up to 90 days of sick leave a year, continuous or in parts (Article 31). The first 15 days are on full pay, the next 30 days on half pay, and any further days are unpaid. You must tell your employer about your illness within three working days and provide a medical report.

Maternity and parental leave

A female employee is entitled to 60 days of maternity leave: 45 days at full pay and 15 days at half pay (Article 30). If she cannot return because of an illness related to the pregnancy or birth, she can take up to 45 further days without pay, supported by a medical certificate. Separately, either parent working in the private sector gets five working days of paid parental leave, which can be taken within six months of the child’s birth (Article 32).

Bereavement, study and national service leave

  • Bereavement leave: five days for the death of a spouse; three days for the death of a mother, father, son, brother, sister, grandson, grandfather or grandmother (Article 32).
  • Study leave: ten working days a year to sit exams, if you have at least two years’ service and are enrolled at an educational institution approved in the UAE.
  • National service: UAE nationals called up for national and reserve service are entitled to leave under the relevant legislation.

Your wages

Your contract will usually split pay into a basic wage and allowances (housing, transport and so on). The difference matters: the law defines “wage” as the basic wage plus cash allowances and some in-kind benefits, but several entitlements, including overtime and end-of-service gratuity, are calculated on the basic wage only.

Wages must be paid on their due dates (Article 22); under MoHRE’s Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026 on the WPS, salaries for the previous month are due on the first day of each Gregorian month. Wages are paid in UAE dirhams unless your contract agrees another currency (Article 21). Employers registered with MoHRE must subscribe to the Wages Protection System (WPS) and pay salaries through it, which creates an electronic record that your salary was paid on time.

Deductions are limited (Article 25). An employer can deduct only in the cases the law allows, for example to recover a loan given to you (only with your written consent and without interest), to recover an overpayment (no more than 20% of the wage), or a disciplinary deduction (no more than 5%). Total deductions in a month generally cannot exceed 50% of your wage.

Equal treatment and harassment

The law prohibits discrimination based on race, colour, sex, religion, national or social origin or disability that would undermine equal opportunity in hiring, keeping a job or enjoying its rights (Article 4). Women must receive the same wage as men for the same work or for alternative work of equal value. Sexual harassment, bullying and verbal, physical or psychological violence against a worker by the employer, managers or colleagues are prohibited (Article 14).

Resigning and notice periods

Either you or your employer can end the contract during its term for a legitimate reason by giving written notice (Article 43). The notice period agreed in your contract must be at least 30 days and no more than 90 days, and you continue to be paid during it. If either side does not honour the notice period, it must pay the other a “notice period allowance” equal to the wage for the remaining period. If your employer ends the contract, you may take one unpaid day a week during the notice period to look for a new job.

In some situations you can leave without notice and keep your end-of-service rights (Article 45). These include:

  • your employer breaching its obligations to you and not fixing the breach within 14 working days after you notify MoHRE;
  • being assaulted or harassed by the employer or its representative, reported within five working days;
  • a serious danger at the workplace that threatens your safety or health and that the employer knows about but does not address;
  • being made to do work fundamentally different from what you agreed, without your written consent.

Termination by the employer

An employer can dismiss a worker without notice only in specific cases listed in Article 44, and only after a written investigation. They include impersonation or submitting forged certificates or documents, causing serious losses or deliberate damage to property, breaching written safety instructions, repeatedly failing in basic duties despite warnings, disclosing the employer’s industrial or intellectual property secrets, being drunk or under the influence of drugs during work, assault at work, and being absent without a legitimate reason for more than 20 intermittent days in a year or more than seven consecutive days.

A dismissal is unlawful if it happens because you filed a serious complaint with MoHRE, or a lawsuit against the employer, whose validity is proven (Article 47). In that case a court can award compensation of up to three months’ wage, in addition to your notice-period allowance and end-of-service benefits.

End-of-service gratuity, in brief

If you are an expatriate in full-time work with at least one year of continuous service, you are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity calculated on your last basic wage: 21 days’ wage for each of the first five years and 30 days’ wage for each year after that, with parts of a year counted proportionally and a total cap of two years’ wage (Article 51). Unpaid absence days are not counted. The current law does not reduce gratuity because you resigned. UAE nationals receive end-of-service benefits under pensions and social security legislation instead.

Your employer must pay your wages and all other entitlements within 14 days of the contract ending (Article 53). The calculation itself, with worked examples, is explained in our separate guide to end-of-service gratuity.

Non-compete clauses

If your job gives you access to clients or business secrets, your contract may restrict you from working for a competitor after you leave. The law limits this: the restriction cannot last longer than two years after the contract ends and must be specified in terms of time, place and type of work (Article 10). It does not apply if your employer ended your contract in breach of the law, and an employer’s claim for breach must be brought within one year of discovering it.

Unemployment insurance

Most private-sector and federal government employees must subscribe to the Involuntary Loss of Employment (ILOE) scheme, which has been compulsory since 1 January 2023. According to the UAE government portal:

  • the premium is AED 5 a month if your basic salary is AED 16,000 or less, and AED 10 a month above that;
  • if you lose your job through no fault of your own, you can receive compensation for up to three months (or until you find work, if sooner), capped at AED 10,000 or AED 20,000 a month depending on your category;
  • you must have paid premiums for at least 12 consecutive months, and you are not eligible if you were dismissed for disciplinary reasons;
  • you must claim within 30 days of becoming unemployed;
  • not subscribing can lead to a fine of AED 400, and premiums unpaid for more than three months can lead to a fine of AED 200 and cancellation of the policy.

Some groups are exempt, including investors who own and run their own business, domestic workers, temporary workers, people under 18 and retirees who have joined a new employer.

If something goes wrong: complaints to MoHRE

Labour disputes start with MoHRE, not the courts (Article 54). You file a complaint through MoHRE’s website, smart app or a service centre, and the ministry first tries to settle the dispute amicably. Under the current text of the law:

  • if the claim is for AED 50,000 or less, or a party has not complied with an amicable settlement decision, MoHRE can issue a binding decision itself; either side can challenge that decision in the Court of Appeal within 15 working days of being notified;
  • larger claims that cannot be settled are referred to the courts;
  • claims are not heard if they are filed more than two years after the employment relationship ended.

Keep copies of your contract, offer letter, payslips or WPS records and any written communication; they are your evidence.

Leaving the job well

When your employment ends, you are entitled to ask for an experience certificate, free of charge, and the employer must not include anything that could harm your reputation or job prospects (Article 13). If you are moving to a new role, an up-to-date resume makes the next step faster; our free ATS resume builder lets you write and save one, and you can keep track of your applications in your career profile.

Frequently asked questions

Does the UAE Labour Law apply in free zones?

DIFC and ADGM have their own employment laws, and ADGM states that the federal Labour Law does not apply there. If you work in another free zone, check your contract and your free zone authority’s rules to see which employment rules apply to you.

Can my employer keep my passport?

No. Article 13 says the employer must not withhold the worker’s official documents.

Do I lose my gratuity if I resign?

Under the current law, gratuity is not reduced because you resigned, provided you have completed at least one year of continuous service. You must still work your notice period or pay the notice allowance.

How long can my probation be?

Up to six months, and an employer can use probation only once for the same worker.

This article is general information about Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 as published by MoHRE, checked in November 2026. It is not legal advice. Laws and ministerial decisions change; for a specific situation, contact MoHRE or a qualified UAE lawyer.

Sources

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