03 Labor Relations in the UAE

A brief overview by Real Law

Who is this overview for

The following overview of labor relations laws will be of use to:

• expats and employees of the UAE companies;
• employers;
• investors and entrepreneurs;
• HR professionals;
• career consultants;
• lawyers and related professions.

Key regulation areas

Legislative acts of the UAE regulate key issues of labor relations, such as: rights and obligations of subjects of labor relations; working conditions, social guarantees, benefits and compensations; liability for violation of labor legislation, etc. 

It is worth noting that in recent years the UAE government has introduced regulations of more specialized aspects of labor relations. These include:

• unemployment insurance scheme (Federal Decree-Law No. 13 of 2022),
• wages protection system (Ministerial Decision of MoHRE No. 598 of 2022),
• hiring of domestic staff (Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022, as well as relevant Ministerial and Cabinet Decisions),
• end-of-service benefits (Ministerial Decison of MoHRE No. 668 of 2023) and others.

Also, Emiratisation initiative has become a...