UAE Labour Law: The 2026 Reference Guide for Private Sector Employees

UAE private sector employment runs on one statute and one regulation: Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Employment Relationships, and Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022 that implements it. Between them they set a 6-month maximum probation, a notice period of 30 to 90 days, 30 days of annual leave, 90 days of sick leave, end-of-service gratuity of 21 or 30 days of basic wage per year, and a hard two-year deadline to bring any claim after the employment relationship ends.

This guide is a reference rather than an argument. Every rule below is tied to the article of the decree-law or the executive regulation that contains it, so you can check any figure against the source instead of against another blog. It covers who the law applies to, contracts and probation, hours and overtime, all seven categories of leave, wages, the routes out of employment, gratuity, final dues, the dispute process and its deadlines, the fines an employer faces, and the three places in the UAE where this law does not apply at all.

Who the UAE Labour Law Covers, and Who It Does Not

Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021 applies to all establishments, employers and workers in the private sector across the UAE. Article 3(2) excludes exactly three categories: employees of federal and local government agencies, members of the armed forces, police and security, and domestic workers. Everyone else in the private sector is covered, including free zone employees.

Domestic workers are the exclusion most often misunderstood. Nannies, drivers, cooks and household staff are not covered by this law; they fall under separate domestic worker legislation and a different MOHRE contract, which is why sponsoring a domestic worker follows its own rules on hours, leave and end of service. Free zone employees, by contrast, are inside the law: a DMCC or JAFZA employer is a private sector employer like any other, even though the free zone authority rather than MOHRE issues the work permit.

Article 4 prohibits discrimination on grounds of race, color, sex, religion, nationality, social origin or disability where it weakens equal opportunity or prejudices equality in obtaining or continuing a job. It also requires equal pay for the same work or work of equal value, with the criteria for assessing equal value left to a Cabinet resolution.

Employment Contracts and the Probation Period

Every employment contract must be for a definite period and is renewable by agreement, under Article 8(3). Probation cannot exceed six months, cannot be imposed twice by the same employer, and counts toward continuous service once passed. During probation the employer must give 14 days written notice to terminate.

The contract must be in two copies, one held by each party, on the form specified in the executive regulation. Article 8(2) is a protection worth knowing: a worker may prove the existence of the contract, the wage, and any entitlement by any means of evidence, so an employer who never issued a written contract does not thereby escape the obligations in it. Where the parties keep performing after the term expires without an express agreement, the contract is impliedly extended on the same terms, and renewals are added to continuous service for gratuity purposes.

Probation is asymmetric, and the asymmetry catches people. An employer terminating during probation gives 14 days. A worker leaving during probation to join another UAE employer must give one month, and the new employer compensates the original one for recruitment costs unless agreed otherwise. A worker leaving during probation to leave the country gives 14 days, and if they return on a new work permit within three months, the new employer pays that same compensation. A foreign worker who simply leaves without following Article 9 is barred from a new UAE work permit for one year from the date of departure. The practical mechanics of probation notice and transfers matter more than the headline six months, and the contract type and skill level recorded with the ministry determine several downstream entitlements.

Can an employer make you sign a non-compete clause?

Yes, but only within limits set by Article 10. A non-compete is permitted where the work gives the employee access to the employer’s clients or trade secrets, and it must be specific as to time, place and kind of work, to the extent necessary to protect legitimate business interests. The maximum duration is two years from the contract expiry date. Two limbs make these clauses far weaker in practice than they look: the condition is null if the employer terminated the contract in breach of the law, and a claim for breach cannot be heard more than one year after the employer discovered the violation. The enforceability of UAE non-compete clauses turns almost entirely on those two points.

Working Hours, Overtime and Rest Days

Normal working hours are a maximum of 8 hours per day or 48 hours per week under Article 17(1). Overtime is capped at 2 hours per day and total working hours may not exceed 144 hours in any 3 weeks. Overtime pay is basic wage plus at least 25%, rising to basic wage plus at least 50% for hours worked between 10 pm and 4 am.

Article 18 prohibits working more than five consecutive hours without a break or breaks totaling at least one hour. Article 21 gives a paid weekly rest of not less than one day. If work requires attendance on the contractual rest day, Article 19(4) gives the worker either a substitute rest day or the day’s wage plus at least 50% of the basic wage for that day, and Article 19(5) prohibits requiring more than two consecutive rest days of work.

Commuting time is excluded from working hours except for categories specified in the executive regulation. Where a worker works remotely with the employer’s approval, the employer may stipulate specific working hours. Ramadan hours are not set in the decree-law at all: Article 17(4) delegates them to the executive regulation, and it is Article 15(2) of Cabinet Resolution 1 of 2022 that reduces normal working hours by two hours during Ramadan. Because Article 19(2) defines overtime as work beyond normal working hours, the overtime threshold moves down with the Ramadan reduction. The arithmetic of an actual overtime calculation uses the basic wage, not the total package, which is where most disputes begin.

Every Leave Entitlement in the Law

The decree-law creates seven distinct paid leave categories. Annual leave is 30 days a year, sick leave is 90 days on a sliding pay scale, maternity leave is 60 days, parental leave is 5 days for either parent, bereavement leave is 5 or 3 days, study leave is 10 days a year after two years of service, and public holidays are set by separate Cabinet resolution.

Three details in the annual leave article are routinely missed. The employer must notify the worker of the leave date at least one month in advance. Carrying forward requires the employer’s approval and the establishment’s organizational regulations. And Article 29(8) prevents an employer from blocking a worker from taking entitled leave for more than two years, unless the worker wants to carry it forward or take a cash allowance. Article 29(9) entitles a departing worker to be paid for untaken leave days regardless of how many there are, which is the basis of most annual leave encashment calculations.

Maternity protection extends beyond the leave itself. Article 30(8) prohibits terminating a female worker or serving her notice because of pregnancy, because she took maternity leave, or because she was absent under Article 30. Article 30(9) gives one or two daily nursing breaks totaling no more than one hour, for six months from the birth date. Details of how maternity leave is applied for and paid and of the separate five-day parental leave for fathers follow from these articles. Sick leave has a notification deadline of its own: Article 31(1) requires the worker to inform the employer within three business days and submit a medical report.

Public holidays are not in the decree-law. They are fixed by Cabinet Resolution 27 of 2024, and Article 29(7) contains a trap: a public holiday falling inside annual leave is treated as part of that leave unless the contract or the establishment’s regulations are more beneficial. The interaction between public holidays and annual leave entitlement is worth checking before booking a long break around Eid.

Wages and How They Must Be Paid

Article 22 requires the wage amount or type to be specified in the contract, and if it is not, the competent court determines it as a labour dispute. Wages must be paid on their due dates through the systems approved by the ministry, which in practice means the Wage Protection System. Payment is in dirhams unless another currency is agreed in the contract.

The distinction between basic wage and total wage runs through the entire law and decides real money. Overtime premiums, gratuity and work injury compensation are all calculated on the basic wage, while notice pay and annual leave pay are calculated on the last total wage received. Reading how basic salary and allowances are split in a UAE offer before signing is therefore not a formality. If wages stop arriving, the route is a MOHRE salary complaint, and the WPS record is the evidence that the ministry works from.

Ending Employment: Notice, Dismissal and Resignation

Either party may terminate for any legitimate reason with written notice of not less than 30 days and not more than 90 days, under Article 43(1). The party that ignores the notice period pays a warning allowance equal to the wage for the whole notice period or the remainder of it, whether or not the other party suffered any harm.

The contract stays alive through the notice period and the worker is entitled to full wage at the last rate for it, and must work it if asked. The notice period must be identical for both parties unless the difference favors the worker. Article 43(5) gives a terminated worker one unpaid day off per week during notice to look for another job, with three days notice of which day they will take.

Article 42 lists nine ways a contract ends, including written agreement, expiry, death of the worker or total permanent disability, a final prison sentence of three months or more, permanent closure of the establishment, and bankruptcy or economic reasons preventing continuation. Article 44 permits dismissal without notice in defined cases, but only after a written investigation, with a written and reasoned dismissal decision handed to the worker. Article 45 mirrors this for the worker, who may leave without notice while keeping full end-of-service rights where the employer breached its obligations (after notifying the ministry 14 business days ahead), assaulted or harassed the worker (reported within 5 business days), left a grave known danger unaddressed, or assigned fundamentally different work without written consent.

Article 46 blocks a common employer shortcut: service cannot be terminated for lack of medical fitness before the worker has taken all the leave legally due, and any agreement to the contrary is void even if made before the law came into force. Where a dismissal does not meet these tests, the route is a claim for arbitrary dismissal, and the practical differences between the types of dismissal and the compensation each attracts and between that and a wrongful termination claim decide what a worker can actually recover. Resigning has its own sequence, and serving resignation notice correctly protects both the gratuity and the work permit. Since the 2022 reforms, changing employer without an NOC is possible, and a labour ban now arises in narrower circumstances than most people expect.

End-of-Service Gratuity

A foreign full-time worker who completes one or more years of continuous service is entitled to gratuity calculated on the basic wage: 21 days’ wage for each of the first five years, and 30 days’ wage for each year beyond that. Article 51(6) caps the total at two years’ wage, whatever the length of service.

Four qualifications sit around that headline. Partial years count in proportion once the first full year is complete. Days of unpaid absence are excluded from the service period. The calculation uses the last basic wage received. And the employer may deduct amounts due by law or by judgment, following the procedure in the executive regulation. UAE nationals do not receive gratuity under this article at all; their end of service runs through the pension and social security legislation.

Article 51(8) allows the Cabinet to approve alternative end-of-service savings schemes, which is the legal basis for the voluntary savings scheme created by Cabinet Resolution 96 of 2023, under which an employer pays 5.83% or 8.33% of basic salary into a regulated fund each month instead of accruing a gratuity. The detailed gratuity calculation, including the treatment of resignation and unlimited contracts, is where the two-year cap and the basic wage rule do most of their work.

Final Dues, Disputes and the Two-Year Deadline

Article 53 requires the employer to pay wages and all other entitlements within 14 days of the end of the contract. Article 54(9) then bars any claim for rights under the law once two years have passed from the date the employment relationship ended.

The two-year limitation is the single most important deadline in the statute and it is frequently reported as one year, because the original 2021 text said one year and some official summaries have not caught up. The consolidated text of the decree-law now reads two years. Treat two years as the outer limit and act far sooner, because evidence and employer solvency both decay.

The dispute route itself is administrative first. A worker, employer or beneficiary applies to MOHRE, which attempts amicable settlement. Under Article 54(2), MOHRE issues a binding decision itself where the claim does not exceed AED 50,000, or where a party has failed to comply with a previously issued amicable settlement decision regardless of value. That decision carries the force of an executive instrument. Either party may take the matter to the Court of First Instance within 15 working days of notification, the court sets a hearing within three working days, decides within 30 working days, and its judgment is final. Filing suspends enforcement of the ministry decision.

Where amicable settlement fails in cases outside the AED 50,000 limit, the ministry refers the dispute to court with a memorandum summarizing the dispute, both parties’ arguments and the ministry’s recommendation. Article 54(8) makes the administrative stage compulsory: a case filed without following these procedures and deadlines is not accepted. Article 54(5) also lets the ministry oblige an employer to keep paying wages for up to two months during the dispute where the salary has been suspended.

Article 55 exempts labour lawsuits from judicial fees at all stages of litigation and execution, for claims by workers or their heirs up to AED 100,000. Losing an unemployment income stream in the meantime is a separate problem, and the ILOE unemployment insurance scheme is the only statutory cushion available.

What It Costs an Employer to Break the Law

Two of these have direct consequences for employees. The Article 60(1) fine for employing a juvenile in breach of the law is what backs the separate rules on employing anyone under 18 in the UAE. And workplace safety obligations under the same law sit behind the work injury compensation regime, which has its own Cabinet resolution, its own 48-hour reporting deadline and its own compensation tables.

Where This Law Does Not Apply: DIFC and ADGM

The two financial free zones are common law jurisdictions with their own employment statutes and their own courts. An employee of a DIFC-registered entity is governed by DIFC Employment Law, not by Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021, and disputes go to the DIFC Courts rather than to MOHRE. ADGM operates the same way with its own regulations. Gratuity, notice, leave and end-of-service treatment all differ, sometimes materially. Anyone weighing an offer inside one of these zones should read how ADGM employment law differs from the mainland and understand the difference between the DIFC Courts and the Dubai Courts before signing, because the choice of forum is usually fixed by the employer’s registration and cannot be negotiated later.

Emiratisation obligations sit outside the decree-law as well. The targets, the Nafis programme and the contribution regime for private sector employers come from separate Cabinet decisions, and what Emiratisation requires of a private sector employer changes on its own schedule.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much notice do I have to give to resign in the UAE?

Whatever the contract says, within the statutory range of 30 to 90 days set by Article 43(1). The notice period must be the same for both parties unless the difference favors the worker. If you leave without serving it, you owe the employer a warning allowance equal to the wage for the notice period or the unserved part of it, and no proof of harm is required.

How is UAE end-of-service gratuity calculated?

On the basic wage only: 21 days’ wage for each of the first five years of continuous service, then 30 days’ wage for each subsequent year, with partial years counted proportionally once the first year is complete. The total is capped at two years’ wage under Article 51(6). Unpaid absence days are excluded from the service period, and the last basic wage received is the rate used.

How many sick days am I entitled to in the UAE?

Ninety days per year after probation, taken consecutively or intermittently, with the first 15 days at full pay, the next 30 at half pay, and the remaining 45 unpaid. There is no paid sick leave during probation, although the employer may grant unpaid sick leave on a medical report. You must notify the employer within three business days and provide a report from a licensed medical authority.

Can my employer refuse my annual leave?

The employer sets leave dates according to work requirements and in agreement with the worker, or grants leave in rotation, and must give at least one month’s notice of the date. But Article 29(8) prevents an employer from stopping a worker from taking entitled leave for more than two years unless the worker chooses to carry it forward or take a cash allowance under the establishment’s regulations.

What is the time limit to file a labour case in the UAE?

Two years from the date the employment relationship ended, under Article 54(9) of the consolidated decree-law. Some sources still cite one year, which was the position before the amendment. The administrative stage at MOHRE is compulsory first: a court case filed without following the procedures and deadlines in Article 54 is not accepted.

Does MOHRE have the power to decide my claim itself?

Yes, where the claim does not exceed AED 50,000, or where either party failed to comply with an earlier amicable settlement decision regardless of value. That decision has the force of an executive instrument. Either party can challenge it before the Court of First Instance within 15 working days, which suspends enforcement, and the court’s judgment on the subject is final.

Do I pay court fees to sue my employer in the UAE?

Not for claims up to AED 100,000. Article 55 exempts labour lawsuits from judicial fees at all stages of litigation and execution for requests submitted by workers or their heirs up to that value. The Cabinet may raise or lower the threshold on the Minister of Justice’s proposal.

How much overtime pay am I owed in the UAE?

The normal hourly rate calculated on the basic wage, plus at least 25%. If the overtime falls between 10 pm and 4 am, the premium is at least 50%, except for shift workers. Overtime cannot exceed two hours a day, and total working hours cannot exceed 144 hours in any three weeks.

Does the UAE Labour Law apply in free zones?

Yes in commercial free zones such as DMCC, JAFZA and IFZA, where employees are private sector workers under Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021 even though the free zone authority issues the permit. No in DIFC and ADGM, which have their own employment laws and their own courts. Confirm which regime applies before signing, because gratuity, notice and dispute forum all change.

Can my employer fire me while I am on sick leave or pregnant?

Article 30(8) prohibits terminating a female worker or serving her notice because of pregnancy, because she took maternity leave, or because of pregnancy-related absence. For illness, Article 46 prevents termination for lack of medical fitness before the worker has taken all leave legally due, and any contrary agreement is void. Article 31(5) does allow termination after the 90-day sick leave is exhausted if the worker cannot return, provided all financial dues are paid.

Official Sources

• UAE Legislation Portal – Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Employment Relationships, consolidated text
• UAE Legislation Portal – Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022, Executive Regulation of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021
• UAE Legislation Portal – Cabinet Resolution No. 27 of 2024 on Public Holidays in the State
• The Official Portal of the UAE Government – Employment in the private sector
• Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation

Information is current as of August 2026. Limitations are stated rather than smoothed over. Every article number and figure above was read from the consolidated English text of Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021 and from Cabinet Resolution 1 of 2022 published on the UAE Legislation Portal, retrieved through an archived copy because the portal itself blocked direct access from our network. The official English translation of the decree-law contains known typographical errors, including a mismatched numeral in the Article 60 fine range and a misnumbered sub-item in Article 29; where the wording and the numeral disagree we have followed the numeral and said so. The two-year limitation in Article 54(9) is stated as it appears in the consolidated text and differs from older sources that still say one year. This guide summarizes a statute and is not legal advice. DIFC and ADGM employees are governed by different laws entirely. Confirm your position with MOHRE or a licensed UAE lawyer before acting on any deadline.