Starting a job in the UAE: what to check before you sign

Probation

Probation can last up to 6 months from your first day of work (Art. 9). Your employer can put you on probation only once.

The probation months count as service, so they count towards your gratuity.

• If your employer ends the job in probation, it must tell you in writing at least 14 days before.
• To move to another UAE employer in probation, give at least 1 month's written notice. The new employer pays your old employer's recruitment costs, unless agreed otherwise.
• To leave the UAE in probation, give at least 14 days' written notice.

Whoever skips this notice pays the other side the wage for the notice period, or what is left of it.

If you leave the UAE without giving it, you cannot get a new work permit for 1 year. More on the UAE probation rules.

The notice you will owe later

Your contract sets your notice period. The law allows 30 to 90 days, given in writing (Art. 43).

The notice is the same for both sides, unless a different one serves you.

If either side skips the notice, it pays the other the wage for the notice period, or what is left of it, at the last wage.

Leaving before your contract term ends, without a lawful reason, can mean no new work permit for 1 year (Art. 50).

What you build up: gratuity

Gratuity is worked out on your basic pay only (Art. 51). So check the basic figure in your offer, not just the total.

• 21 days' basic pay for each of your first 5 years.
• 30 days' basic pay for each year after that.
• Paid once you complete 1 year of continuous service.
• Capped at 2 years' wage in total.

Resigning later does not reduce your gratuity. Your employer may deduct amounts you owe under the law or a court judgment (Art. 51).

ILOE unemployment insurance

ILOE covers most workers, Emiratis and residents alike (Decree-Law 13/2022, Art. 3).

If you get a new work permit, subscribe within 4 months (MoHRE). Not subscribing brings an AED 400 fine.

• Up to AED 5 a month, plus VAT, if your basic pay is AED 16,000 or less (Cabinet Resolution 97/2022, Art. 7).
• Up to AED 10 a month, plus VAT, if it is more.
• Pay monthly, quarterly, every 6 months or once a year.

A claim later needs 12 months in a row on the scheme, so an early start helps. Read who has to subscribe.

Savings scheme instead of gratuity

Some employers use the UAE's optional end-of-service savings scheme instead of gratuity (u.ae). Your employer chooses who it enrols.

• Your employer pays 5.83% of your monthly basic pay into a fund while you have under 5 years of service.
• It pays 8.33% once you have served more than 5 years.
• You may add your own money, up to 25% of your total wage.
• When the job ends, you get what was paid in and its returns within 14 days.

In the DIFC, employers pay into a qualifying savings plan, such as DEWS, instead of gratuity. They pay at least 5.83% of your monthly basic wage for the first 5 years and 8.33% for each year after (DIFC Employment Law, Art. 66).

If you are a UAE or GCC national registered with the GPSSA, your DIFC employer pays a top-up into the plan instead (Art. 65).

DIFC and ADGM have their own employment laws, so the probation and notice rules above do not apply there.