Hire and pay employees in
the United Arab Emirates, hassle-free

With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in the United Arab Emirates. No more worrying about local laws, complex tax systems, or managing international payroll. Deel takes care of everything in 150+ countries.

The average onboarding time frame in the United Arab Emirates is 20 days with Deel.

Devise

United Arab Emirates Dirham

Capitale

Abu Dhabi

Langue officielle

Arabic

Cycle de paie

Mensuel

Onboard, pay and manage employees in the United Arab Emirates with Deel.

Usually, to hire in the United Arab Emirates, your business needs an entity. That means a local office, an address registered as a subsidiary, and an account with a local bank. All of this, plus navigating regional benefits, payroll, tax, and HR laws, can take months.

Deel lets you hire employees in the United Arab Emirates quickly, easily, and compliantly. We even automate tax document collection, payroll, benefits, and more. For your existing direct employees, we can manage your entire payroll operation from end-to-end.

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All the necessary benefits for the United Arab Emirates
built right in

Deel allows you to provide localized benefits for employees in the United Arab Emirates within minutes. All in one manageable online dashboard.

  • Couverture santé
  • Pension
  • Assurance maladie publique
  • Assurance-chômage
  • Private Health Insurance (ADNIC)
  • Workman’s Compensation Insurance
  • Optional global health insurance - Allianz

Our quickstart guide to hiring in the United Arab Emirates

Navigate the tabs below to learn everything you need to know about hiring an employee in the United Arab Emirates

Exigences relatives au salaire minimum

In the UAE there is no minimum wage stipulated by law for expatriates.

Impôt sur le revenu des particuliers

Employees pay no income tax. However, certain employees may be subject to social security contributions.

Coût de la paie

The estimated employer costs vary depending on the employee’s nationality. For expat employees, the estimated employer cost is 0.06% of their monthly salary plus mandatory health insurance. 

Social Security (UAE and GCC nationals only) - 12.5%-15%* of the employee's monthly gross salary for UAE nationals. The contribution percentage may vary for GCC nationals.
Workmen Insurance Compensation - 0.06%
Mandatory Private Health Insurance - Monthly estimate: AED 1,083.33 

*12.5% for salaries below AED 20,000, 15% for salaries higher than AED 20,000, capped at a maximum salary for the contribution of AED 70,000. The cost may vary for GCC nationals.

Additional information about the mandatory private health insurance
The cost for the medical insurance will be adjusted based on the gender, age, and marital status of the employee and varies from AED 7,388 to AED 38,071 (including issuance fee and VAT) per year. The cost is invoiced annually. In the first invoice, this cost will be pro-rated from the enrolment date to the next policy expiration (June 8).

Please note: Visa fees will be determined case by case. Additional costs apply to employees who are UAE and GCC nationals.

Ces coûts sont des estimations et ne sont indiqués qu’à titre d’information. Pour comprendre le mode de calcul des coûts et frais inhérents aux termes d’un contrat de travail établi dans ce pays, n’hésitez pas à demander un devis à notre service commercial.

Rémunération des heures supplémentaires et nombre d’heures maximum

Standard working hours are 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week. The standard workweek is from Sunday to Thursday. During Ramadan work hours are reduced to 6 hours per day.

Overtime payment is mandatory for non-managerial positions. Managerial staff may take a day off in lieu if they have worked additional hours or days. Hours outside of standard work hours are considered overtime. Employees can not work more than a maximum of 2 hours of overtime per day or 144 hours in total over a 3 week period. For additional hours, employees are paid:

  • General Overtime - 125% of the hourly rate

  • Between 10pm and 4am - 150% of the hourly rate

  • Weekends and public holidays - 150% of the hourly rate

Congé maternité

Pregnant employees are entitled to 45 days of paid leave. The employee will receive 100% of the salary during this period, and the employer will be responsible for this pay.

Congé paternité

There is no paternity leave currently required by law.

Congé parental

Eligible employees are entitled to 5 working days of paid leave within the first 6 months after the birth of their child. After this, they are entitled to 45 days of unpaid leave. Employees must provide proof in the form of a medical certificate when they request leave on the platform. 

Congés maladie

Employees are entitled to paid sick leave for up to 90 days. The requirement to grant this leave is that the employee worked at least 3 months for the employer after the probation period has ended. This leave is paid at different rates and by the employer:

Période Payer Payeur
0 - 15 days 100 % du salaire de base Employeur
15 - 45 days 50% Employeur
45 - 90 days 0 % N/A

Conditions de départ

Un licenciement doit respecter des règles complexes et la procédure officielle du pays où travaille la personne concernée. Les conditions du départ sont toujours gérées par l’employeur avec les principales parties prenantes. La procédure peut inclure des frais ponctuels et certaines mesures (obligatoires ou recommandées) dans des cas spécifiques de licenciement.

Employers can unilaterally terminate contracts at any time as long as proper legal notice requirements and compensation are followed. Terminations without notice must be for cause.

Pour être conforme, la rupture d’un contrat de travail doit être motivée par :

  • Du fait de l’employé
  • D’un commun accord
  • Unilaterally by the employer:
    • Without cause providing notice and required compensation
    • For cause without notice
      • Période d’essai
      • Raisons objectives
      • Disciplinary dismissal
      • Performance due to unsuitability for the job
  • À l’expiration du contrat

Période de préavis

The minimum notice period is 1 month and the maximum is 3 months. The amount must be agreed upon between the employee and the employer.

Indemnités de départ des employés

In the UAE, all employees who are terminated, unless terminated under Article 120 of the Labor Law, are entitled to severance pay. Severance pay is 21 working days of salary for each of the first five years of services and an additional 30 working days per year of service over five years up to a maximum of 2 years based compensation.

Pour vous prémunir des risques financiers imprévus liés à un licenciement, Deel prévoit un cumul d’indemnités de départ dans tous les contrats de travail pour ce pays.  Deel possède une grande expérience de la gestion des risques de litige à l’international, et nous calculons le cumul d’indemnités de départ en fonction du droit commun ou des dispositions légales et des meilleures pratiques locales. Si votre employé démissionne ou n’a pas droit à une indemnité de départ, les montants réservés en vertu du contrat et inutilisés vous sont remboursés.

Congés payés

Employees in the United Arab Emirates who work five days per week are entitled to a minimum of 30 calendar days of vacation per year. This accrues at a rate of 2.5 days per month. Employees can only take vacation days after 6 months of employment at a rate of 2 days per month during the rest of their first year of employment. Once the employee surpasses 12 months of employment, they are entitled to the minimum of 30 calendar days of vacation per year.

Jours fériés

There are 15 regular public holidays in the United Arab Emirates. Public holidays include both fixed-date and moveable holidays that change annually.

  • New Year’s Day: January 1

  • Eid al-Fitr (4 days)

  • Arafat Day

  • Eid al-Adha (4 days)

  • Nouvel An islamique

  • Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday

  • Commemoration Day: December 1

  • National Day: December 2

  • National Day: December 3

Onboarding

Onboarding can vary according to the type of visa the employee will require. Onboarding with a visa: the average time is 20 business days. Onboarding nationals is a minimum of 3 business days after SOW is signed, pending deposit payment and submission of all required employee information.

Termes du contrat de travail

Les contrats doivent être en anglais et peuvent être bilingues. Ils doivent être écrits et signés par les deux parties.

All requested contracts must have a deposit paid in order to execute the visa process - UAE visa have a liability on Deel since we must pay the employee once the Visa is issued - accordingly if the client decided to cancel the contract after the visa is granted we will be at risk. A contract must include:

  • name

  • Date de début

  • length of the employment

  • job description

  • termination conditions

  • monthly gross salary details, with breakdown

  • probation period and notice period details

  • gratuity details

  • annual leave days

Employees can be hired on limited and fixed term contracts. 
The maximum length of a contract can be 10 years, and it can be renewed for the same period of time. 
Indefinite term contracts are not allowed. 
Contract backdating is not allowed. 

Période d’essai

Probation periods are mandatory in the UAE. The legal maximum probation period is 3 months with an option to extend for another 3 months.
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Hiring in the United Arab Emirates, hassle-free

With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in the United Arab Emirates with our EOR solution. If you have an entity, our Global Payroll solution takes care of payroll and compliance for your direct employees. Our 250+ in-house experts handle everything from managing local laws, complex tax systems, or your payroll in the United Arab Emirates and 150+ countries.

Groupe (8)

À partir de 599 USD

Management fee

Group (9)

0.06%

Part employeur estimée

* du salaire versé

Want to learn the cost of hiring an employee in the United Arab Emirates?

Accédez à notre outil Employee Cost Calculator
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