Employment & HR
Employing people here.
Work permits, contracts, probation, leave, gratuity, WPS, Emiratisation, unemployment insurance and termination — the obligations that apply whatever the contract says.
Before the list
The law was rewritten, and most advice was not.
Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021 abolished unlimited-term contracts, capped probation at six months, changed notice in both directions, introduced parental leave for both parents, and substantially narrowed the circumstances in which a labour ban applies. Resignation no longer reduces end-of-service gratuity. A large amount of guidance still circulating — including from employers, to their own staff — describes the position before all of that.
The other thing worth knowing is that statutory entitlements apply whatever the contract says. A clause giving an employee less than the statutory minimum on notice, leave or gratuity is unenforceable rather than clever, and producing such a contract at a MOHRE hearing damages the employer's position on everything else in the file.
Hiring
A fixed sequence with quota at the front of it, and a job title on the permit that quietly decides what the employee can do with their immigration status years later.
Pay, leave and benefits
Statutory entitlements apply whatever the contract says. Gratuity accrues from the first year and most small companies have never provided for it; untaken leave is paid out on exit whether or not anyone tracked it.
Ending employment
The 2021 reforms changed this substantially — resignation no longer forfeits gratuity and labour bans apply far more narrowly. A great deal of advice still in circulation describes the old law.
Staying compliant
Four systems on four calendars, penalties levied per worker, and disputes decided by whoever kept the documents during the employment rather than after it.
Next step
Not sure which of these applies to you?
Describe the situation in two lines. We will tell you which of these you actually need and which you can ignore.
- hello@wearrange.com
- Telephone
- +971 4 000 0000
- Hours
- Sunday to Thursday, 09:00–18:00 GST