Workers' rights · UAE Labour Law 2026
Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 sets out what every private-sector employee is owed. This guide covers the parts that put money in your pocket: gratuity, leave, notice, overtime and your final settlement.
The UAE Labour Law applies to every employee in the private sector on the mainland, whatever your nationality, job or salary. Domestic workers have their own law, government employees sit outside it, and the two financial free zones, DIFC and ADGM, run their own employment regulations. Most other free zones apply the federal law with small local variations.
The law works through a contract registered with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, MoHRE, and that registered contract is what a court or a ministry inspector will look at first, so keep a copy and check that the basic salary written on it matches what you were promised. Since 2022 all contracts are fixed-term, renewable, and neither side can walk away from one without following the notice rules below.
End-of-service gratuity is the single largest sum most employees ever receive from an employer, and the one most often underpaid. After one year of continuous service you are entitled to 21 days of basic salary for each of your first five years and 30 days of basic salary for every year after that, pro-rated for part years, and capped at two years' total pay.
It is calculated on basic salary only, not on housing or transport allowances, which is why the split between basic and allowances in your contract matters so much. Since 2022 it no longer matters whether you resigned or were terminated; the full entitlement applies either way. Unpaid loans and advances can be deducted, but nothing else. Put your own numbers into the free gratuity calculator before you sign a final settlement.
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You earn 30 calendar days of paid annual leave for every year worked, two days per month after your first six months, and any days you have not taken when the contract ends must be paid out at basic salary. Sick leave runs to 90 days a year after probation on a ladder of 15 days full pay, 30 days half pay and 45 days unpaid, with a medical certificate.
Maternity leave is 60 days, 45 at full pay and 15 at half pay, from the first day of employment, and five days of paid parental leave is available to both parents. Public holidays are paid, and if you are made to work one you are owed either a day off in lieu or your wage plus 50 percent. The leave calculator works out what your unused days and sick or maternity pay are worth.
Either side can end the contract with written notice of 30 to 90 days, whatever your contract says inside that range. During notice you keep working on full pay, and if your employer prefers you not to work it they owe you the pay for the unserved days.
Probation is a maximum of six months and cannot be extended: your employer needs 14 days' notice to end it, you need 30 days if you are moving to another UAE employer or 14 days if you are leaving the country. Leaving during probation without notice can bring a one-year work permit ban, so serve it. Your last working day and any pay in lieu are calculated on the notice period calculator.
Normal hours are eight a day or 48 a week, reduced by two hours a day in Ramadan. Overtime is limited to two hours a day and paid at your basic hourly rate plus 25 percent, rising to plus 50 percent between 10pm and 4am and on your weekly rest day. Senior managers, people with authority over staff and a handful of other categories are excluded from overtime altogether.
Your basic hourly rate is your monthly basic divided by 30 and then by eight. If overtime is being folded into a flat allowance or not appearing on your payslip at all, the overtime calculator will show you what the law says you should be receiving.
When the contract ends your employer has 14 days to pay everything owed: salary to the last day, gratuity, unused leave, pay in lieu of notice and any other amounts in the contract. They must cancel your work permit and residence visa, and they cannot keep your passport at any point during employment, let alone as leverage at the end.
If the money is late or wrong, the first step is a free complaint to MoHRE through its app or call centre; the ministry mediates and, if that fails, refers the case to the labour court, where claims under AED 100,000 are heard quickly and with no court fees for the employee. Keep your contract, payslips and any written communication about your exit, because the settlement dispute almost always comes down to the paperwork.
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Basic salary only. Housing, transport and other allowances are excluded, which is why the basic-to-allowance split in your contract matters.
No. Since the 2022 law, resignation and termination carry the same gratuity entitlement after one year of service.
14 days from the end of the contract, under Article 53 of the UAE Labour Law.
Every figure on these tools comes from the UAE Labour Law, but knowing the law and getting paid are two different things. The Tutorii Workers' Rights module walks through final settlements, MoHRE complaints, probation traps and what to sign (and not sign) on your last day, in plain English. It sits alongside modules on visas, banking, career and life in the UAE.
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General information based on UAE federal law and common practice in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Free-zone rules may differ. This is not legal, immigration or financial advice — confirm your position with MoHRE, ICP or a licensed adviser.