Career opportunities and a high standard of living
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) attracts expat workers from all over the world, with Dubai alone attracting more than 200,000 international workers every year. Mostly desired for its tax-free economy, where workers and employers are not required to pay any taxes, The UAE also boasts many other benefits including career opportunities, great education, and a high standard of living.
Home to a number of the largest and most beautiful buildings in the world, some of the UAE’s biggest industries include petroleum, construction, textiles and food, and several other industries which are experiencing rapid growth. The UAE has great transportation access, making it easy for workers to travel and commute, and English is also widely spoken across the nation, making it very accessible for expats.
Working in UAE
Employment Information
The UAE is a tax-free nation. Employees can benefit from taking their salaries home without having to pay any income tax on their earnings, and there are no taxes for employers in the country. Employers must cover all visa-related expenses of their foreign workers, and they must pay for the medical insurance of each employee.
Despite these costs for employers, the country’s tax policy still makes it an extremely financially lucrative and beneficial venture for growing businesses.
Working Hours
- Private sector employees are required to work 8 hours per day or 48 hours per week.
- Public sector employees are required to work 7 hours per day. During the holy month of Ramadan, working hours are reduced by 2.
- Article 65 of the UAE Labour Law identifies the normal working hours for the private sector as 8 hours per day or 48 hours per week.
- The working hours may be increased to 9 hours a day for businesses, hotels and cafes after approval from MOHRE.
- The Labour Law does not govern government entities and they operate for 7 hours daily.
- Working for more than 7 hours a day is prohibited in arduous or unhealthy works and industries.
- Normal working hours are reduced by two hours daily during the holy month of Ramadan.
- An overtime is considered if the nature of job demands working beyond normal working hours and it will entitle the employee for a pay equal to normal working hours' remuneration plus 25 per cent of that pay. It could increase to 50 per cent if overtime is done between 9 pm and 4 am.
Annual Leave
Employees are entitled to an annual leave of:
- 2 days per month, if they have completed six months of service, but not one year
- 30 days, if they have completed one year of service.
Friday is officially the weekend for all workers, except for daily wage workers. If circumstances require an employee to work overtime on that day, they will be entitled for regular working hours' pay, plus an increase of not less than 50 per cent of that amount.
If an employee is required to work during holidays or leaves, they will be granted another rest day as well as an increase of 50 per cent on his basic wage for that day. If they could not be granted another day off, they are entitled to receive an additional 150 per cent on his basic wage for that day according to Article 81 of the Labour Law.
Sick Leave
An employee is entitled to a sick leave of not more than 90 days per year, only after a period of three months’ continuous service following the probation period.
The 90 days sick leave can be continuous or intermittent, and the salary is paid as follows:
- full pay for the first 15 days
- half pay for the next 30 days
- no pay for the rest 45 days.
Cultural Information
The UAE’s populace includes a range of religions including Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity, with Islam being the most common religious group. The country also speaks a variety of languages including Arabic, English and Hindi. Arabic is the native language of the UAE, however English in the most commonly spoken.
Employees in the UAE will benefit from Muslim Holidays including Eid and Ramadan, getting to enjoy public holidays around the celebrations.
Impacts of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a massive shift in remote workers coming to the UAE. There has been a steady incline of people, particularly in the Technology and Finance sector, who have shown interest to work in Dubai remotely for their international companies, and an Employer of Record or UAE PEO model is best suited for them.
Since the pandemic, a lot of UAE companies have altered their business plans to go fully remote and have seen no effect to business operations. The UAE is now the leading country in the Middle East for remote workers.
United Arab Emirates – Did you know?
- Before the discovery of oil in the mid-20th century, the UAE’s economy was primarily built around the fishing and pearl industries
- Dubai is home to the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, standing at an astonishing 2717 feet
- The ‘Dubai Metro’ is the world’s longest driverless metro system in the world, and is valued at around $7.6bn
- The UAE’s economy is the fourth largest in the Middle East, and its gross domestic product (GDP) is around $421bn
UAE PEO Services
UAE PEO Services
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) attracts expat workers from all over the world, with Dubai alone attracting more than 200,000 international workers every year. Mostly desired for its tax-free economy, where workers and employers are not required to pay any taxes, The UAE also boasts many other benefits including career opportunities, great education, and a high standard of living.
Home to a number of the largest and most beautiful buildings in the world, some of the UAE’s biggest industries include petroleum, construction, textiles and food, and several other industries which are experiencing rapid growth. The UAE has great transportation access, making it easy for workers to travel and commute, and English is also widely spoken across the nation, making it very accessible for expats.
Working in UAE
Employment Information
The UAE is a tax-free nation. Employees can benefit from taking their salaries home without having to pay any income tax on their earnings, and there are no taxes for employers in the country. Employers must cover all visa-related expenses of their foreign workers, and they must pay for the medical insurance of each employee.
Despite these costs for employers, the country’s tax policy still makes it an extremely financially lucrative and beneficial venture for growing businesses.
Working Hours
- Private sector employees are required to work 8 hours per day or 48 hours per week.
- Public sector employees are required to work 7 hours per day. During the holy month of Ramadan, working hours are reduced by 2.
- Article 65 of the UAE Labour Law identifies the normal working hours for the private sector as 8 hours per day or 48 hours per week.
- The working hours may be increased to 9 hours a day for businesses, hotels and cafes after approval from MOHRE.
- The Labour Law does not govern government entities and they operate for 7 hours daily.
- Working for more than 7 hours a day is prohibited in arduous or unhealthy works and industries.
- Normal working hours are reduced by two hours daily during the holy month of Ramadan.
- An overtime is considered if the nature of job demands working beyond normal working hours and it will entitle the employee for a pay equal to normal working hours' remuneration plus 25 per cent of that pay. It could increase to 50 per cent if overtime is done between 9 pm and 4 am.
Annual Leave
Employees are entitled to an annual leave of:
- 2 days per month, if they have completed six months of service, but not one year
- 30 days, if they have completed one year of service.
Friday is officially the weekend for all workers, except for daily wage workers. If circumstances require an employee to work overtime on that day, they will be entitled for regular working hours' pay, plus an increase of not less than 50 per cent of that amount.
If an employee is required to work during holidays or leaves, they will be granted another rest day as well as an increase of 50 per cent on his basic wage for that day. If they could not be granted another day off, they are entitled to receive an additional 150 per cent on his basic wage for that day according to Article 81 of the Labour Law.
Sick Leave
An employee is entitled to a sick leave of not more than 90 days per year, only after a period of three months’ continuous service following the probation period.
The 90 days sick leave can be continuous or intermittent, and the salary is paid as follows:
- full pay for the first 15 days
- half pay for the next 30 days
- no pay for the rest 45 days.
Cultural Information
The UAE’s populace includes a range of religions including Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity, with Islam being the most common religious group. The country also speaks a variety of languages including Arabic, English and Hindi. Arabic is the native language of the UAE, however English in the most commonly spoken.
Employees in the UAE will benefit from Muslim Holidays including Eid and Ramadan, getting to enjoy public holidays around the celebrations.
Impacts of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a massive shift in remote workers coming to the UAE. There has been a steady incline of people, particularly in the Technology and Finance sector, who have shown interest to work in Dubai remotely for their international companies, and an Employer of Record or UAE PEO model is best suited for them.
Since the pandemic, a lot of UAE companies have altered their business plans to go fully remote and have seen no effect to business operations. The UAE is now the leading country in the Middle East for remote workers.
United Arab Emirates - Did you know?
- Before the discovery of oil in the mid-20th century, the UAE’s economy was primarily built around the fishing and pearl industries
- Dubai is home to the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, standing at an astonishing 2717 feet
- The ‘Dubai Metro’ is the world’s longest driverless metro system in the world, and is valued at around $7.6bn
- The UAE’s economy is the fourth largest in the Middle East, and its gross domestic product (GDP) is around $421bn
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