# OfficeHR: full site text > Everything on officehr.ae in one Markdown file, for AI assistants and search tools. Last updated 2026-10-26. Index: https://officehr.ae/llms.txt --- # About OfficeHR: HR and Payroll Software for UAE Teams > Facts about OfficeHR: what it does, UAE compliance coverage, published pricing, who it is for, and how to get started. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/about Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). Fact sheet · Updated October 2026 A plain fact sheet about OfficeHR for customers, search engines and AI assistants. ## What OfficeHR is > OfficeHR is HR and payroll software for UAE businesses with roughly 10 to 50 employees. It brings hiring, onboarding, employee records, time off, attendance, performance and UAE payroll (including WPS salary files and end-of-service gratuity) into one system. It is built by Kestrel Labs in the UAE. ## What it includes - **Hiring:** job requisitions, an applicant pipeline built from ready-made hiring templates, a shareable job link with LinkedIn and WhatsApp text, a library of skills tests, written work tasks, recorded video interviews, live interview scheduling with calendar invites, interviewer scorecards, reference checks and offers. - **Onboarding and documents:** onboarding task lists, e-signatures for contracts and policies, document storage, and Emirates ID and passport details read from uploaded images (HR only). - **People:** employee directory, org chart, departments, and role-based access so managers see their team without seeing everyone's pay. - **Time off and attendance:** leave requests and approvals under UAE leave rules, attendance and overtime. - **Performance and engagement:** reviews, goals, a team community feed, and wellbeing surveys. - **Payroll:** pay runs, adjustments such as overtime and loans, payslips, WPS salary file (SIF) generation, end-of-service gratuity and final settlements. ## UAE compliance it is built around - WPS (Wage Protection System) salary file generation. - End-of-service gratuity calculated under UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021. - UAE leave rules: annual, sick, maternity and parental leave, configurable to a company's own policy. - Pension handling for GCC nationals. ## Pricing (published) - Base fee, includes the first 10 employees — AED 300 per month - Employees 11 to 25 — AED 30 per employee per month - Employees 26 to 50 — AED 25 per employee per month - Employees 51 and above — AED 20 per employee per month - Annual billing — 10 months charged instead of 12 Prices exclude 5% UAE VAT. There is no setup fee. A seat is an active employee on payroll, not a login, and candidates in the hiring pipeline are never counted. Use the [pricing calculator](https://officehr.ae/pricing) for an exact figure. ## Who it is for, and who it is not - **For:** UAE companies of about 10 to 50 employees that want hiring, HR and payroll in one system without a dedicated HR administrator. - **Not for:** multi-country payroll, very large enterprises needing heavy customisation, or buyers who want instant self-serve sign-up. Customers are onboarded personally. ## How to get started Book a 30-minute demo at [cal.com/officehr/30min](https://cal.com/officehr/30min), or call or WhatsApp +971 52 590 3321. New workspaces are set up by hand. ## Guides OfficeHR publishes plain-language guides to UAE HR, hiring and payroll compliance in the [blog](https://officehr.ae/blog). For AI assistants and search tools, the site also provides [llms.txt](https://officehr.ae/llms.txt), [llms-full.txt](https://officehr.ae/llms-full.txt) and a Markdown version of every article. ## Find us - Website: [officehr.ae](https://officehr.ae) - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/officehr/), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/officehr.ae/), [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@Officehr_ae) --- # OfficeHR pricing Source: https://officehr.ae/pricing (last updated 2026-10-26) - Base fee: AED 300 per month, includes the first 10 employees. - Employees 11 to 25: AED 30 per employee per month. - Employees 26 to 50: AED 25 per employee per month. - Employees 51 and above: AED 20 per employee per month. - Annual billing charges 10 months instead of 12. - All prices exclude 5% UAE VAT, added at invoice time. No setup fee. - A seat is an active employee record on payroll, not a user login. Candidates and applicants in the hiring pipeline, and external read-only access, are never counted. - Monthly plans recompute the seat count at each renewal, in both directions. On annual plans the seat count is committed for the year: adding people mid-term triggers a prorated top-up invoice, and removing people does not reduce the bill until renewal. Examples (excluding VAT): 10 employees AED 300 per month (AED 3,000 a year); 25 employees AED 750 per month (AED 7,500 a year); 50 employees AED 1,375 per month (AED 13,750 a year). --- # Best Hiring Software in the UAE (2027 Guide to Recruitment and ATS Tools) > A ranked guide to hiring and applicant tracking software for UAE employers: Workable, OfficeHR, Zoho Recruit, Manatal and TestGorilla. Who each suits, strengths, limits and how to choose. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/best-hiring-software-in-the-uae-2027 Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). October 2026 · 9 min read Most UAE small businesses still hire out of an inbox and a WhatsApp group. A hiring tool replaces that with one place for applications, tests, interviews and offers. The right one depends on whether recruiting is your full-time job or one of many things you do. ## The short answer > If recruiting is a core, constant activity, a dedicated applicant tracking system such as Workable goes deepest, and it's our first pick for that. If you're an employer with a team of 10 to 50 who wants hiring connected to HR and payroll, OfficeHR is our second pick overall and the best fit for that need. > **Full disclosure:** we build OfficeHR, so we've put ourselves in this list and we're not a neutral party. To keep it useful, we say how we ranked, give each option's real strengths and limits, and explain when OfficeHR is *not* the right choice. Products and prices change, so verify anything that matters with the vendor and test with your own data before you commit. ## How we ranked them This ranking is for **UAE companies of roughly 10 to 50 employees**, because that is who we build for and talk to every week. We weighed five things: 1. **UAE fit:** job sharing that works in the UAE (LinkedIn and WhatsApp), lawful and fair process, and a smooth path from offer to employee record. 2. **Fit for a small team:** quick to set up, no dedicated HR administrator needed. 3. **Price you can predict:** published, or at least clear, before the demo, and stable as headcount changes. 4. **Hiring depth:** templates, skills tests, video answers, interview scorecards and automation. 5. **Support and migration:** who helps you move your data and fixes a problem on payday. A larger company, a multi-country team or a team that only needs one function could reasonably rank these differently. That is why every entry says who it is best for. ## What a hiring tool should do - **Publish and share jobs** on your careers page and on the places candidates actually look, including LinkedIn and WhatsApp. - **Give every role a clear process** with stages, owners and time limits. - **Test real skills** with short tests, tasks and recorded answers. (See [how to identify real talent](https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-identify-top-talent-in-the-uae-beyond-the-cv).) - **Score interviews consistently** with shared scorecards. (See [how to run a structured interview](https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-run-a-structured-interview-uae-questions-and-scorecard).) - **Keep candidates informed** with invites, reminders and status updates. - **Hand over smoothly** to onboarding and the employee record once someone accepts. (See [from offer to day one](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-job-offer-letter-and-work-permit-guide-for-employers).) ## At a glance | # | Option | Best for | Watch out for | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **Workable** | Teams that hire constantly and want a dedicated, polished ATS | Hiring only: HR records, leave and payroll are somewhere else | | 2 | **OfficeHR** | UAE employers of 10 to 50 who want hiring connected to HR and payroll | Not a standalone recruiting tool for agencies; personal onboarding rather than instant sign-up | | 3 | **Zoho Recruit** | Budget-conscious teams, including a limited free plan | Free and low-cost tiers are limited; setup takes effort | | 4 | **Manatal** | Small recruitment agencies and lean in-house teams | Per-user pricing grows with the number of recruiters | | 5 | **TestGorilla** | Adding skills assessments to any hiring process | An assessment tool, not a full applicant tracking system | ## The ranking in detail ### 1. Workable *Best dedicated ATS for constant hiring* **Best for:** a company or recruiter that is always hiring and wants a mature, dedicated applicant tracking system. **Strengths** - A well-known ATS with job posting, candidate pipelines and collaboration tools. - Typically priced as a flat monthly plan with a free trial, which can suit teams with several recruiters sharing one account. **Limitations** - It covers hiring only, so you will connect it to your HR and payroll tools separately. - Flat plans can feel expensive if you only hire a few times a year. **Pricing:** published by plan, in dollars. Confirm the current plan and whether it fits your volume. ### 2. OfficeHR *Best when hiring should feed HR and payroll* **Best for:** a UAE employer of 10 to 50 who hires a few times a year and wants everything, from the job post to the payslip, in one system. **Strengths** - Start from a ready-made hiring template and each step (application, skills test, recorded video answers, live interview, reference check, offer) becomes a column on that job's board. - A shareable job link with ready-to-paste text for LinkedIn and WhatsApp, and a careers page. - A built-in library of skills tests across language, numeracy, reasoning, software, finance, customer service, sales and behaviour, plus written work tasks. - Interviewer scorecards with a 1 to 5 rating and recommendation, calendar invites and automatic reminders so candidates are never left waiting. - Candidates in the pipeline are never counted as seats: you only pay for employees on payroll. **Limitations** - Built for UAE teams of about 10 to 50 employees. Much larger companies may outgrow it. - UAE only. It doesn't run multi-country payroll. - Customers are onboarded personally (by phone or WhatsApp) rather than through instant self-serve sign-up. - It is software, not an insurance broker, so insurance is something you arrange separately. **Pricing:** published and simple. A base fee of AED 300 a month includes your first 10 employees, then AED 30 per employee a month for employees 11 to 25, AED 25 for 26 to 50, and AED 20 from 51. Annual billing charges 10 months instead of 12. Prices exclude 5% VAT and there is no setup fee. See the [pricing calculator](https://officehr.ae/pricing). ### 3. Zoho Recruit *Good budget ATS with a limited free plan* **Best for:** a cost-conscious team that is happy to configure its own workflow. **Strengths** - A full applicant tracking system with a free tier, which makes it easy to try. - Part of the wider Zoho suite if you already use it. **Limitations** - The free plan is limited, for example in the number of active jobs. - Expect to spend time configuring it, and check which features sit in which plan. **Pricing:** published by plan. Confirm current prices on Zoho's site. ### 4. Manatal *Good for agencies and lean teams* **Best for:** a small recruitment agency or an in-house team that wants a straightforward, affordable ATS. **Strengths** - Aimed at agencies and lean in-house teams, with a low per-user entry price. - Trial available. **Limitations** - Per-user pricing means the cost grows with the number of recruiters. - Like other ATS tools, it doesn't manage the employee after the hire. **Pricing:** per user per month, by plan. Confirm the current rate. ### 5. TestGorilla *Best add-on for skills testing* **Best for:** adding standardised skills assessments to a hiring process you already have. **Strengths** - A large library of ready-made skills tests that integrates with other tools. - Useful if your current ATS has no testing. **Limitations** - It is an assessment product, not an applicant tracking system. - You will pay for it in addition to your ATS. **Pricing:** by plan. Confirm current pricing with the vendor. ## When OfficeHR is not the right choice for hiring - You're a recruitment agency managing client pipelines, which needs agency-specific tools such as Manatal. - Your company hires dozens of people a month and wants an enterprise-grade, dedicated ATS. - You only need assessments added to an existing system. TestGorilla is simpler. ## Where to find candidates No ATS finds candidates by itself. You still need a mix of channels: your own careers page, a shareable job link posted on LinkedIn and WhatsApp, referrals from your team, job boards such as Bayt and GulfTalent, and agencies for hard-to-fill roles. Our guide to [hiring the best talent in the UAE](https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-hire-the-best-talent-in-the-uae) covers the whole process. For the wider picture, see the [best HR software guide](https://officehr.ae/blog/best-hr-software-in-the-uae-2027). This guide reflects our own view as of October 2026 and was written by the makers of OfficeHR. Descriptions of other products are based on publicly available information and vendor materials, may be out of date, and are not endorsements or guarantees. Verify features and pricing directly with each vendor. --- # Best HR Software in the UAE (2027 Guide for Small and Growing Teams) > A ranked guide to HR software for UAE companies of 10 to 50 employees: OfficeHR, Bayzat, Zoho People and Payroll, greytHR and Zimyo, and Deel. Who each is best for, strengths, limits and pricing approach. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/best-hr-software-in-the-uae-2027 Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). October 2026 · 10 min read Picking HR software in the UAE is harder than it looks, because the global tools are strong everywhere except the parts that are specific to the UAE: WPS salary files, end-of-service gratuity and local leave rules. This guide ranks the main options for small and growing teams and says plainly who each one suits. ## The short answer > For UAE companies of roughly 10 to 50 employees, we rank OfficeHR first overall because it puts hiring, records, leave, attendance and UAE payroll in one system at a published price. Bayzat is strong if you want insurance administration alongside HR, Zoho suits teams happy to assemble modules on a budget, and Deel suits teams spread across countries. > **Full disclosure:** we build OfficeHR, so we've put ourselves in this list and we're not a neutral party. To keep it useful, we say how we ranked, give each option's real strengths and limits, and explain when OfficeHR is *not* the right choice. Products and prices change, so verify anything that matters with the vendor and test with your own data before you commit. ## How we ranked them This ranking is for **UAE companies of roughly 10 to 50 employees**, because that is who we build for and talk to every week. We weighed five things: 1. **UAE compliance built in:** WPS salary files, end-of-service gratuity, UAE leave rules and pension handling, not bolted on. 2. **Fit for a small team:** quick to set up, no dedicated HR administrator needed. 3. **Price you can predict:** published, or at least clear, before the demo, and stable as headcount changes. 4. **Breadth in one place:** how much of hiring, records, leave, attendance and payroll sits in a single system. 5. **Support and migration:** who helps you move your data and fixes a problem on payday. A larger company, a multi-country team or a team that only needs one function could reasonably rank these differently. That is why every entry says who it is best for. ## At a glance | # | Option | Best for | Watch out for | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **OfficeHR** | UAE teams of 10 to 50 that want everything in one system | Not for very large or multi-country companies; personal onboarding rather than instant sign-up | | 2 | **Bayzat** | Teams that want HR and health-insurance administration together | Pricing is by quote; some reviewers find it costly for the smallest teams | | 3 | **Zoho People + Zoho Payroll (UAE edition)** | Budget-conscious teams comfortable connecting modules | HR and payroll are separate products to set up and keep in sync | | 4 | **greytHR / Zimyo** | Teams wanting a mid-market HRMS with a Middle East offering | Check how deeply UAE-specific rules are handled and who supports you locally | | 5 | **Deel** | Companies hiring across several countries | Aimed at global and multi-country needs, which is more than most small UAE teams need | ## The ranking in detail ### 1. OfficeHR *Best overall for UAE teams of 10 to 50* **Best for:** a UAE company that wants one system for hiring, employee records, time off, attendance, performance and payroll, without a dedicated HR administrator. **Strengths** - UAE payroll built in: WPS salary files and end-of-service gratuity calculated under Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021, plus pension handling for GCC nationals. - Covers the whole employee lifecycle in one place: a hiring pipeline with ready-made templates, skills tests and interview scorecards, then onboarding, leave, attendance and overtime, reviews and payroll. - Role-based access, so managers see their team's leave without seeing everyone's pay. - Pricing you can calculate yourself before any sales call, and a seat means an employee on payroll, not a login. **Limitations** - Built for UAE teams of about 10 to 50 employees. Much larger companies may outgrow it. - UAE only. It doesn't run multi-country payroll. - Customers are onboarded personally (by phone or WhatsApp) rather than through instant self-serve sign-up. - It is software, not an insurance broker, so insurance is something you arrange separately. **Pricing:** published and simple. A base fee of AED 300 a month includes your first 10 employees, then AED 30 per employee a month for employees 11 to 25, AED 25 for 26 to 50, and AED 20 from 51. Annual billing charges 10 months instead of 12. Prices exclude 5% VAT and there is no setup fee. See the [pricing calculator](https://officehr.ae/pricing). ### 2. Bayzat *Strong for HR plus insurance* **Best for:** a UAE company that wants HR and payroll alongside health-insurance and benefits administration from one provider. **Strengths** - UAE-founded and widely associated with SMEs in the region. - Combines HR, WPS payroll and benefits or insurance administration, which suits teams that want one vendor for all three. **Limitations** - Pricing isn't published and is quoted per customer, so budget is harder to judge up front. - Reviewers have described it as costly for very small teams. Ask for a written quote based on your headcount. **Pricing:** by quote. Ask for the total annual cost, including any setup fees, before you compare. ### 3. Zoho People with Zoho Payroll (UAE edition) *Best on a tight budget if you can assemble it* **Best for:** a cost-conscious team with someone willing to configure and connect separate modules. **Strengths** - Zoho describes a UAE edition of its payroll product with WPS salary file generation, gratuity and pension deductions. - Modular: you can start with one product and add recruiting or other modules later. - Per-employee pricing is published on Zoho's site. **Limitations** - HR records and payroll are separate products, so setup takes more effort and the pieces need to stay in sync. - Published prices change and differ by product and plan, so confirm the current rate card before budgeting. **Pricing:** published per product and plan. Confirm the current figures on Zoho's site, as they vary by edition. ### 4. greytHR and Zimyo *Mid-market HRMS options with a Middle East offering* **Best for:** teams that want a conventional HRMS and are happy to evaluate how well it handles UAE-specific rules. **Strengths** - Both position themselves for small and mid-sized businesses and offer UAE or Middle East editions. - Zimyo has published per-employee pricing in dirhams. **Limitations** - Test the UAE-specific details on your own data: the WPS file format your bank accepts, gratuity workings and local leave rules. - Ask who provides support in UAE time and how migration is handled. **Pricing:** check each vendor's current pricing page or request a written quote. ### 5. Deel *Best for multi-country teams* **Best for:** a company that employs or contracts people in several countries and needs one platform for all of them. **Strengths** - Built for global payroll, contractors and cross-border hiring. - Useful if your team is spread across countries, not only the UAE. **Limitations** - More than most single-country small businesses need, and typically priced accordingly. - If your people are all in the UAE, a UAE-built tool is usually simpler and cheaper. **Pricing:** by plan. Confirm the current structure with the vendor. ## When OfficeHR is not the right choice - You employ people in several countries and need one payroll for all of them. Look at Deel. - You are well over 100 employees and need heavy enterprise customisation. - You want to buy and start the same day without speaking to anyone. OfficeHR sets customers up personally. - You want your insurance and HR bought from one provider. Bayzat is built around that. ## How to pick between them 1. List what you actually use today: WPS, leave, contracts, attendance, hiring, reviews. 2. Shortlist two or three. Give each last month's payroll data and one real leaver. 3. Check that the payslips, the WPS file and the final settlement match your own calculation. 4. Compare total annual cost including VAT, not the headline rate. Our [checklist for choosing HR software](https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-choose-hr-software-uae) has the questions to ask every vendor, and [our guide to HR software pricing in the UAE](https://officehr.ae/blog/hr-software-pricing-in-the-uae-2027-what-small-teams-pay) explains how to compare the cost fairly. If hiring or payroll is your main need, see the [best hiring software](https://officehr.ae/blog/best-hiring-software-in-the-uae-2027) and [best payroll software](https://officehr.ae/blog/best-payroll-software-in-the-uae-2027) guides. This guide reflects our own view as of October 2026 and was written by the makers of OfficeHR. Descriptions of other products are based on publicly available information and vendor materials, may be out of date, and are not endorsements or guarantees. Verify features and pricing directly with each vendor. --- # Best Payroll Software in the UAE (2027 Guide: WPS, Gratuity and Payslips) > A ranked guide to payroll software for UAE businesses: Zoho Payroll, OfficeHR, Bayzat, greytHR and Zimyo, and Deel. What to check for WPS files and gratuity, who each suits, and how to test before you switch. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/best-payroll-software-in-the-uae-2027 Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). October 2026 · 9 min read UAE payroll is not just a spreadsheet of salaries. It needs a WPS salary file your bank will accept, end-of-service gratuity calculated to current law, and payslips and leave that agree with each other. This guide ranks the main options and explains what to test before you trust one with payday. ## The short answer > If you only need payroll and want to spend as little as possible, Zoho Payroll's UAE edition is our pick. If you want payroll in the same system as leave, attendance and hiring, OfficeHR is the better fit for small UAE teams, and it's our second pick for payroll overall. Bayzat is worth a look if you want insurance administration too. > **Full disclosure:** we build OfficeHR, so we've put ourselves in this list and we're not a neutral party. To keep it useful, we say how we ranked, give each option's real strengths and limits, and explain when OfficeHR is *not* the right choice. Products and prices change, so verify anything that matters with the vendor and test with your own data before you commit. ## How we ranked them This ranking is for **UAE companies of roughly 10 to 50 employees**, because that is who we build for and talk to every week. We weighed five things: 1. **UAE compliance built in:** WPS salary files, end-of-service gratuity, UAE leave rules and pension handling, not bolted on. 2. **Fit for a small team:** quick to set up, no dedicated HR administrator needed. 3. **Price you can predict:** published, or at least clear, before the demo, and stable as headcount changes. 4. **Breadth in one place:** how much of hiring, records, leave, attendance and payroll sits in a single system. 5. **Support and migration:** who helps you move your data and fixes a problem on payday. A larger company, a multi-country team or a team that only needs one function could reasonably rank these differently. That is why every entry says who it is best for. ## What good UAE payroll software must do - **Generate the WPS salary file** from the same data as the payslips, in the format your bank or exchange house accepts. (See [how to create a SIF file](https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-create-a-sif-file-uae-wps) and [how WPS works](https://officehr.ae/blog/wps-explained-uae-wage-protection-system).) - **Calculate gratuity correctly**, with the working shown. (See [how gratuity is calculated](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-gratuity-calculation-explained).) - **Handle deductions and adjustments** such as loans, unpaid leave and overtime. (See [overtime rules](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-attendance-and-overtime-rules).) - **Produce final settlements** on exit with accrued leave and notice. (See [resignation and final settlement](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-resignation-notice-period-and-final-settlement).) - **Let you review before anything is paid**, and keep a record of each run. ## At a glance | # | Option | Best for | Watch out for | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **Zoho Payroll (UAE edition)** | Payroll-only on a budget | Standalone: HR records, leave and hiring are separate products | | 2 | **OfficeHR** | Payroll in the same system as leave, attendance and hiring | Built for UAE teams of 10 to 50; personal onboarding rather than instant sign-up | | 3 | **Bayzat** | Payroll alongside insurance and benefits administration | Quote-based pricing; can be costly for the smallest teams | | 4 | **greytHR / Zimyo** | Mid-market HRMS with payroll and a Middle East edition | Test UAE-specific WPS and gratuity handling on your own data | | 5 | **Deel** | Payroll across several countries | More than most single-country UAE teams need | ## The ranking in detail ### 1. Zoho Payroll (UAE edition) *Best payroll-only option on a budget* **Best for:** a company that already has its HR records elsewhere and wants a focused, low-cost payroll tool. **Strengths** - Zoho describes its UAE edition as covering WPS salary file generation, gratuity calculation and pension deductions. - Per-employee pricing is published, and it's a focused product that does payroll without a lot of extras. **Limitations** - It is a standalone payroll product, so leave, attendance and employee records come from somewhere else and need to stay in sync. - Prices and plans change, and reported figures vary, so confirm the current rate card. **Pricing:** published per employee and by plan. Confirm the current figures on Zoho's site. ### 2. OfficeHR *Best when payroll should live with HR, leave and hiring* **Best for:** a UAE team of 10 to 50 that wants payroll fed automatically by approved leave, attendance and overtime, with hiring and records in the same place. **Strengths** - WPS salary files generated from the same data as payslips, with end-of-service gratuity calculated under Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021 and pension handling for GCC nationals. - Approved leave and attendance flow straight into payroll, so there's nothing to re-key at month end. - Review the run before it's final, with one-off adjustments such as overtime, loans and unpaid days. - Predictable published pricing, with payroll included rather than sold as an add-on. **Limitations** - Built for UAE teams of about 10 to 50 employees. Much larger companies may outgrow it. - UAE only. It doesn't run multi-country payroll. - Customers are onboarded personally (by phone or WhatsApp) rather than through instant self-serve sign-up. - It is software, not an insurance broker, so insurance is something you arrange separately. **Pricing:** published and simple. A base fee of AED 300 a month includes your first 10 employees, then AED 30 per employee a month for employees 11 to 25, AED 25 for 26 to 50, and AED 20 from 51. Annual billing charges 10 months instead of 12. Prices exclude 5% VAT and there is no setup fee. See the [pricing calculator](https://officehr.ae/pricing). ### 3. Bayzat *Good if insurance sits alongside payroll* **Best for:** a company that wants payroll, HR and insurance or benefits administration from one UAE provider. **Strengths** - Describes WPS file generation alongside benefits and insurance administration. - A familiar name among UAE SMEs. **Limitations** - Pricing is by quote, so compare total annual cost carefully. - Reviewers have described it as costly for very small teams. **Pricing:** by quote. Ask for the full annual cost in writing. ### 4. greytHR and Zimyo *Mid-market HRMS with payroll* **Best for:** teams that want a conventional HRMS with payroll and are comfortable testing UAE specifics. **Strengths** - Both offer payroll with Middle East editions and position themselves for small and mid-sized firms. - Zimyo has published dirham pricing per employee. **Limitations** - Check the exact WPS file format your bank accepts and how gratuity workings are shown. - Ask who supports you in UAE time zones and how migration works. **Pricing:** check each vendor's current pricing page or request a written quote. ### 5. Deel *Best for multi-country payroll* **Best for:** a business paying employees or contractors in several countries. **Strengths** - Designed for global payroll, contractors and cross-border employment. **Limitations** - If everyone is in the UAE, a UAE-built tool is usually simpler and cheaper. - Confirm exactly how WPS is handled and who is responsible for it. **Pricing:** by plan. Confirm the current structure with the vendor. ## Not ready to buy software? You can run WPS through your bank's or exchange house's portal with a spreadsheet. It works for a handful of people, but mistyped IBANs and labour card numbers are the usual cause of rejected files, and gratuity gets calculated ad hoc when someone resigns. If you've had one rejected file or one disputed final settlement, the cost of switching is usually smaller than another year of patching. ## How to test before you switch 1. Give each shortlisted vendor last month's payroll data and one real leaver. 2. Check that the payslips, the WPS file and the final settlement match what you calculate yourself. 3. Run one cycle in parallel before cutting over. 4. Ask who fixes a rejected salary file on payday, and how quickly. For more questions to ask, use our [HR software checklist](https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-choose-hr-software-uae), and see [how to run payroll in the UAE](https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-run-payroll-in-the-uae) for the process itself. For the full HR picture, read the [best HR software guide](https://officehr.ae/blog/best-hr-software-in-the-uae-2027). This guide reflects our own view as of October 2026 and was written by the makers of OfficeHR. Descriptions of other products are based on publicly available information and vendor materials, may be out of date, and are not endorsements or guarantees. Verify features and pricing directly with each vendor. WPS requirements are set by UAE authorities and banks and can change. --- # How to Choose the Best HR Software for Your UAE Company > A practical framework for choosing HR and payroll software in the UAE: what to require, the questions to ask every vendor, the red flags to avoid, and how to test before you commit. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-choose-hr-software-uae Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). September 2026 · 6 min read Most small companies don't choose HR software so much as arrive at it — after a WPS file gets rejected, a gratuity figure gets disputed, or nobody can say how many leave days someone has left. Choosing well comes down to knowing which of those problems you're actually buying to solve. ## The short answer > Choose HR software on four things: it handles UAE payroll compliance natively (WPS and gratuity), it covers the modules you'll actually use in one system, its pricing stays predictable as your headcount changes, and someone will genuinely help you set it up. Everything else is secondary. Full disclosure: we build OfficeHR, so weigh this accordingly. We've written the checklist below to be useful whichever product you end up choosing, us included. ## First, work out whether you need it yet Not every company does. A team of three with one payroll run a month can get by on a spreadsheet. The signs you've outgrown one: - You build the WPS salary file by hand each month, and a mistyped IBAN or labour card number has already caused a rejection or a scramble. - Leave balances live in a spreadsheet, a chat thread, or one manager's head — and employees disagree with the numbers. - Gratuity gets calculated ad hoc when someone resigns, instead of being tracked as it builds up. - Contracts and employee documents are scattered across email and shared drives. - Hiring runs through an inbox. If two or three of these sound familiar, the cost of switching is usually smaller than the cost of another year of patching. ## What a UAE company should require Global HR tools are often excellent at everything except the parts that are specific to the UAE. Treat these as non-negotiable: - **WPS file generation** in the format your bank or exchange house accepts, built from the same payroll data as the payslips — not a separate export you re-key. (Here's [how the salary file works](https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-create-a-sif-file-uae-wps).) - **Gratuity calculated to current law**, with the working shown so you can check it, and kept accurate when rules change. (See [how gratuity is calculated](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-gratuity-calculation-explained).) - **UAE leave rules built in** — annual leave, tiered sick leave, maternity and parental leave — configurable to your own policy. (More on [structuring a leave policy](https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-structure-a-leave-policy-uae).) - **Contracts and documents in one place**, ideally with e-signatures, so offers and policies aren't printed, signed, and scanned. - **Attendance and overtime that feed payroll**, so hours worked and pay agree. (See [attendance and overtime rules](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-attendance-and-overtime-rules).) - **Role-based access**, so a manager sees their team's leave without seeing everyone's salary. ## What's nice to have — and what to ignore for now Performance reviews, engagement surveys, and analytics dashboards are worth having available so you don't have to change systems as you grow. But don't let a long feature list drive the decision or the price. A tool that does payroll, leave, and records well beats one that does forty things adequately. Ask what you'd genuinely use in the first year. ## Questions to ask every vendor 1. Which WPS agents and file formats do you support, and who fixes it when a file is rejected? 2. How do you keep gratuity and leave rules up to date when the law changes, and how would I find out? 3. How is pricing calculated, is it quoted before or after VAT, and what happens to my bill when headcount goes up or down? 4. Who migrates my existing employee data, and is that included in the price? 5. Can I export all of my data if I leave? 6. What does support look like — hours, channel, and response time in UAE time? 7. Can I speak to a customer with a similar team size? 8. Who can see salary data, and can I restrict it? ## Red flags - **"UAE support is coming soon."** If you're paying people in the UAE, WPS and gratuity aren't roadmap items. - Pricing that stays vague until after the demo, or changes once you say your headcount. - Setup fees or minimum commitments that dwarf the first year's subscription. - No clear answer on who's accountable when a salary file is rejected on payday. - No way to export your own data. ## How to test before you commit Shortlist two or three, then run a real scenario instead of watching a scripted demo. Give each vendor last month's payroll data and one real leaver, and check whether the payslips, the WPS file, the leave balances, and the final settlement match what you'd calculate yourself. Involve whoever actually runs payroll. If you can, run one cycle in parallel before switching over. ## Count the full cost Compare on total annual cost, not the headline rate: any base fee, per-employee charges, setup or migration fees, and the 5% UAE VAT on top if prices are quoted exclusive of it. Then weigh that against what you spend today — the hours your team loses to payroll each month, and what an error costs when one slips through. This is a general buying framework for HR teams and business owners, not a recommendation of any specific product and not legal advice. Vendor capabilities and pricing change — verify claims directly, ideally with a trial using your own data. --- # How to Create a SIF File for WPS in the UAE > A practical, step-by-step look at how a UAE company actually generates and submits a Salary Information File (SIF) for WPS — what you need ready, and why files get rejected. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-create-a-sif-file-uae-wps Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). September 2026 · 5 min read If you've searched this, you're probably staring down your first WPS pay run and wondering whether you need to build a spreadsheet in some exact format. You don't build the file from nothing — but you do need the right pieces in place before your bank or software can generate it correctly. ## The short answer > You don't hand-type a SIF file. You generate one through your WPS agent's portal or through payroll software, using your MOHRE establishment details and each employee's verified bank information — the "creating" part is really about getting that underlying data correct. For the concept itself — what WPS is and why it exists — see our [separate explainer](https://officehr.ae/blog/wps-explained-uae-wage-protection-system). This post is about the practical steps to actually produce a file that gets accepted. ## What you need before you can generate one - **An active WPS registration**, linked to your company's MOHRE labour establishment number. - **A WPS agent** — a bank, exchange house, or approved finance company registered to process WPS transfers on your behalf. - **Verified employee bank details** — each employee's IBAN has to sit with a bank or exchange house that's itself WPS-registered, not just any personal account, and it has to be current (people switch banks and forget to tell HR). - **Accurate labour card / person numbers** for every employee on the file, matching what's registered with MOHRE. - **A completed pay run** — basic salary, allowances, and deductions calculated per employee for the period, matching what's declared on their actual labour contract. ## The actual steps 1. Finalize payroll for the period — every employee's net pay, calculated and reviewed. 2. Generate the file itself. This happens one of two ways: manually through your WPS agent's own online portal (you enter or upload each employee's pay data yourself, every single month), or automatically through payroll software that exports directly in the file layout your agent expects. 3. Submit the file to your WPS agent before your payment deadline for the period. 4. Check the confirmation status, not just the submission status. A file can be accepted for processing and still contain a line that gets rejected — that specific employee's wage isn't actually considered paid until it clears. 5. Fix and resubmit anything flagged, immediately — don't let a rejected line sit until next month's run. ## Why files get rejected The same handful of issues account for most rejections: an IBAN that no longer matches the employee's actual bank (they switched accounts and didn't tell you), a labour card number that's mistyped or belongs to an employee whose contract status changed, or a net pay figure that's lower than what's registered on their MOHRE contract — even a AED 50 discrepancy from an unrecorded change can flag a line. None of these are file-format problems; they're data-accuracy problems that happen to surface at the file stage. ## Where this breaks down for small teams The most common failure mode isn't a technical one — it's doing this by hand in a spreadsheet every month, re-typing figures that already exist somewhere else (the offer letter, last month's payslip, an email about a raise), with no single source of truth catching the mismatch before it reaches the bank. The fewer places your salary and bank data live, the fewer chances there are for one of them to go stale. This is a general explanation of the practical steps involved in generating a WPS salary file for HR teams doing their own planning — not a substitute for your specific bank or exchange house's own WPS onboarding documentation, and not legal advice. Exact file specifications, deadlines, and rejection-handling procedures are set by your WPS agent and the relevant UAE labour authority and can vary — confirm current specifics directly with them rather than relying on this page. --- # How to Hire the Best Talent in the UAE: A Practical Process for Small Teams > A step-by-step hiring process for UAE teams of 10 to 50: define the role, write an honest ad, source beyond job boards, test real skills, interview consistently, move fast and make an offer that holds. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-hire-the-best-talent-in-the-uae Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). October 2026 · 7 min read The UAE is an international, mobile hiring market. Good candidates usually have more than one conversation going, so a slow or vague process loses them long before the interview. The teams that hire well aren't luckier, they just run the same simple process every time. ## The short answer > Hire in seven steps: define the role, write an honest ad, source in more than one place, screen on skills rather than CVs, interview everyone the same way, move quickly, and make an offer that matches what the contract will say. Small teams can't out-spend big employers, but they can out-run them on speed and clarity. ## 1. Define the role before you write the ad Most weak hires start with a copied job description. Before you post anything, write down: - **What success looks like in six months.** Two or three concrete outcomes, not a list of duties. - **Three to five must-have skills** and a separate short list of nice-to-haves. If everything is a must-have, nobody qualifies and you'll compromise at random. - **The salary range, reporting line and working pattern.** You'll need these for the advert and for the offer anyway. - **Whether the role counts towards your Emiratisation target.** If your company is in scope, plan for it now rather than after you've filled the role. (See [our Emiratisation guide](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-emiratisation-nafis-quota-explained).) Turn the must-haves into the criteria you'll score every candidate against. That is your scorecard, and everything below uses it. ## 2. Write an honest job advert - **Be specific.** A real title, the location, working days and a salary range if you can share it. Candidates skip vague adverts. - **Describe the work, not the wish-list.** Say what the person will actually do in the first months. - **Keep it lawful.** UAE labour law treats discrimination on grounds like nationality, race, gender, religion or disability as unlawful, and that applies to adverts, shortlisting and interviews, not only the final decision. Don't specify a nationality, gender or age unless it is truly essential to the job. - **Only advertise real vacancies.** MOHRE has warned against adverts that don't reflect an actual opening. ## 3. Source where the talent actually is One job board is rarely enough. A balanced mix for a small UAE team looks like this: - **Your own careers page.** It is the one source you control, and it should always be live. - **A shareable job link.** In the UAE a lot of hiring travels through LinkedIn posts and WhatsApp groups. A clean link with the role details makes sharing effortless for your team and your network. - **Employee referrals.** Ask your team directly, with a named role and a deadline. People rarely recommend someone unless they're asked for a specific job. - **Industry communities and past applicants.** The strong candidate you couldn't hire last year may be available now. - **Recruitment agencies for senior or hard-to-fill roles.** They cost money, and under UAE law the employer carries recruitment costs, not the candidate. Agree the fee terms in writing before you start. Record where each candidate came from. After three or four hires you'll know which channel is worth your time. ## 4. Screen on skills, not just CVs A CV tells you what someone says they've done. A short, standard test or work task shows you what they can do, and it lets you compare people fairly. Use the same screening step for every candidate. We cover this in detail in [how to identify real talent beyond the CV](https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-identify-top-talent-in-the-uae-beyond-the-cv). ## 5. Interview everyone the same way Pick four to six criteria from your scorecard, ask each candidate the same core questions, and have each interviewer score independently before anyone discusses. It feels more rigid than a conversation, but it is the fastest route to a fair decision. See [how to run a structured interview, with questions and a scorecard](https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-run-a-structured-interview-uae-questions-and-scorecard). ## 6. Move fast and keep people informed - Set a time limit for every step, for example two working days to review an application and three to schedule an interview. - Tell candidates what the process is, how long it takes and where they stand. Silence is the number one reason good candidates take another offer. - Decide within a day or two of the final interview, while the conversation is fresh. - Tell unsuccessful candidates, briefly and kindly. They talk to people, and some will be your next hire. ## 7. Make an offer that holds The offer should match what will end up in the employment contract: salary breakdown, probation, notice, leave and benefits. Anything promised verbally and missing from the paperwork becomes a dispute later. For the paperwork between offer and day one, read [our guide to UAE job offers and work permits](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-job-offer-letter-and-work-permit-guide-for-employers), and use the [onboarding checklist](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-employee-onboarding-checklist) once they accept. ## Common hiring mistakes - Hiring on gut feel after one friendly chat. - Letting five people interview with no shared criteria, then deciding by the loudest voice. - Skipping reference checks because the candidate "seems great". - Leaving candidates waiting more than a few days with no update. - Making an offer that doesn't match the contract. ## Where OfficeHR fits > This whole process can live in one place. In OfficeHR you start from a ready-made hiring template for the type of role, and each step (application, skills test, recorded video answers, live interview, reference check, offer) becomes a column on that job's board. You get a shareable job link and ready-to-paste text for LinkedIn and WhatsApp, a test library, interview scorecards, and automatic reminders and calendar invites, so candidates are never left wondering. This is a general guide to hiring practice for UAE teams doing their own planning, not legal advice for a specific case. Rules on advertising, discrimination, Emiratisation and work permits are set by UAE law and can change; confirm anything unusual with MOHRE or a UAE labour lawyer. --- # How to Identify Real Talent in the UAE: Look Beyond the CV > How UAE employers can spot genuinely strong candidates: skills tests, short work tasks, recorded video answers, structured interviews, reference checks and credential checks, plus the red flags to watch for. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-identify-top-talent-in-the-uae-beyond-the-cv Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). October 2026 · 7 min read The UAE draws candidates from dozens of countries, education systems and working cultures. That is a strength, but it makes the CV a weak signal on its own: job titles mean different things in different places, and polished documents are easy to produce. The reliable approach is to ask candidates to show you a small piece of the job. ## The short answer > Collect three or four different signals for every finalist: a standard skills test, a short work task, a structured interview, and references. Then verify the basics (identity, right to work, qualifications). Hiring research has long found that work samples and structured interviews predict performance better than unstructured chats or years of experience. ## Why the CV misleads in a market like the UAE - **Titles don't travel.** A "manager" in one country or company can be a team lead in another. Titles say little about scope. - **Tenure isn't a clean signal.** Many professionals move for family, visa or market reasons, so a short stay isn't automatically a red flag, and a long one isn't automatically a good sign. - **Education systems differ.** Two identical-looking degrees can represent very different training. - **CVs are easy to polish.** Between templates, writing help and AI tools, a CV shows how well it was prepared more than how well the person works. ## Signal 1: a short skills test A short, timed test that every candidate takes under the same conditions gives you a like-for-like comparison. Pick the skills the role genuinely needs: - **Language** for client-facing, support and admin roles (written English, and Arabic where the role needs it). - **Numeracy** for finance, operations and sales roles. - **Reasoning** for roles that involve problem solving. - **Software and role knowledge**, such as spreadsheets for an accountant or a CRM scenario for sales. - **Behaviour and judgement** through short situational questions, such as what to do when a customer is angry. Keep it to 15 to 30 minutes. Multiple-choice questions can be marked automatically, which saves you hours; written answers need a human, so use them sparingly. Use the test to decide who moves forward, not as the only deciding factor. ## Signal 2: a small work task Give finalists a short exercise based on the real work: draft a reply to a difficult customer email, tidy a small spreadsheet, outline a plan for the first month. Set a clear brief and a sensible time limit (30 to 60 minutes of effort), and score it against the same criteria for everyone. Respect candidates' time: if a task takes longer than an hour or two, think about paying for it. ## Signal 3: timed recorded answers Recorded video answers let candidates respond to the same questions, with the same preparation and answer time, whenever it suits them. That helps you screen communication and clarity without coordinating diaries, which is useful when candidates are in different time zones or still working a notice period. ## Signal 4: a structured interview and references Ask the same core questions of every finalist and score each answer on a 1 to 5 scale (see [our structured interview guide](https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-run-a-structured-interview-uae-questions-and-scorecard)). Then speak to two referees and ask each the same questions: what was their role, what were they best at, what would they do differently, and would you hire them again? A hesitant answer to that last one tells you a lot. ## Verify the basics - **Identity and right to work.** Check their passport and current visa or residency status, and whether they can be transferred to your sponsorship. - **Qualifications.** Degrees from abroad commonly need attestation, and for many job categories a UAE recognition step as well before a work permit can be issued. Rules depend on the role, so confirm the current requirements with MOHRE. Make sure the name on the certificate matches the passport, because mismatches are a common reason permits stall. - **Consent for checks.** Get written consent before any background or reference check, limit checks to what is relevant to the role, and do them after a conditional offer. UAE data protection rules apply to candidate information. ## Red flags worth a second look - Answers that say "we" and never explain the candidate's own contribution. - Test or task results far below what the CV suggests. - Unexplained, shifting dates or titles across documents. - Reluctance to let you contact any referee. - A certificate whose details don't match their passport. None of these is proof of anything on its own. They're prompts to ask a follow-up question. ## Keep it fair - Give every candidate the same test, the same task and the same questions. - Score before you discuss, so a confident talker doesn't sway the room. - Judge answers against the role's criteria, not against how closely someone matches your own background. ## Where OfficeHR fits > In OfficeHR each of these is a step you can add to a hiring template. There is a library of ready-made assessments across language, numeracy, reasoning, software, finance, customer service, sales and behaviour, with multiple-choice questions marked automatically and written answers waiting for your review. You can add a work task, timed recorded video questions with preparation and answer limits, and interviewer scorecards. Every result lands on the candidate's profile, so you compare people on evidence. This is a general guide to candidate assessment for UAE teams doing their own planning, not legal advice. Attestation, recognition, work permit and data protection requirements are set by UAE authorities and can change; confirm the current rules with MOHRE or a UAE employment lawyer. --- # How to Run a Structured Interview in the UAE (Questions and a Scorecard You Can Copy) > Run fairer, more reliable interviews: build a 1 to 5 scorecard, use a question bank by competency, know which questions to avoid under UAE rules, and score each interviewer independently. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-run-a-structured-interview-uae-questions-and-scorecard Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). October 2026 · 8 min read Most small teams interview by conversation, which feels natural and works badly: every candidate gets different questions, the friendliest person wins, and the decision is made on a feeling. A structured interview fixes that with the same questions, a shared scorecard and independent scoring. ## The short answer > Pick four to six criteria for the role, write two or three questions for each, score every answer from 1 to 5 against agreed examples, and have each interviewer score alone before the group talks. You get fairer decisions, faster, and a record you can defend. ## Step 1: build the scorecard Choose four to six criteria drawn from the role's must-have skills. A typical customer-facing role might use these: - Communication — Clear, structured, listens - Role knowledge — Understands the work and the tools - Problem solving — Breaks down a problem, weighs options - Ownership — Takes responsibility, follows through - Working with others — Collaborates across teams and cultures Then agree what each score means, so a "4" from one interviewer means the same as a "4" from another: - **1 – No evidence.** Couldn't give an example or answered a different question. - **2 – Weak.** Vague or theoretical, with little personal contribution. - **3 – Meets the bar.** A relevant, specific example with a clear result. - **4 – Strong.** A detailed example showing good judgement and impact. - **5 – Outstanding.** Exceeds what you'd expect at this level, with insight you hadn't considered. Finish with an overall recommendation: strong yes, yes, not sure, or no. ## Step 2: use a question bank Ask behavioural questions ("tell me about a time") for how someone has acted, and situational questions ("what would you do if") for how they'd think. Two or three per criterion is plenty. - **Communication.** Tell me about a time you had to explain something complicated to someone unfamiliar with it. How did you know they understood? - **Role knowledge.** Walk me through how you'd handle a typical task in this role, step by step. What do you check at each stage? - **Problem solving.** Describe a problem you solved with limited information or time. What options did you consider and why did you choose one? - **Ownership.** Tell me about a mistake you made at work. What did you do next, and what changed afterwards? - **Working with others.** Describe a time you worked with people whose background or style differed from yours. What did you adjust? - **Handling pressure.** Tell me about a week when several deadlines collided. How did you decide what came first? - **Motivation.** What would make this role a success for you in six months? Follow up each answer with the same probes: *What was your part? What did you actually do? What was the result?* They turn rehearsed answers into real ones. ## Step 3: questions to avoid UAE labour law treats discrimination in hiring as unlawful, including during interviews. Don't ask about: - Age, marital status, children or plans to have them. - Religion, race, or where someone is "really" from. - Health, disability or pregnancy. You can and should ask about things that affect the job: whether they can legally take up the role, their notice period, availability, and any requirements the role genuinely has, such as shift patterns or travel. Ask everyone the same questions. ## Step 4: run the interview - **Brief the panel in advance.** Share the criteria, the questions and who asks what. Two or three interviewers is enough. - **Tell the candidate the format.** Length, who they'll meet and whether to prepare anything. A calm candidate gives a better signal. - **Take factual notes.** Write what was said, not conclusions like "seemed nice". - **Score straight away and alone.** Each interviewer rates every criterion and gives a recommendation before any discussion. - **Then compare.** Discuss where scores differ, because that is where the useful conversation is. Decide within a day or two. ## Phone, video, in person and recorded The same structure works for every format. In person is best for the final round. Phone and video calls suit early screening, and recorded video answers (candidates answer the same timed questions in their own time) are efficient for a first filter when you have many applicants or candidates in other time zones. ## Where OfficeHR fits > OfficeHR has the structure built in. Add a live interview step (in person, video or phone) and calendar invites go to everyone, with an automatic reminder the day before. Each interviewer fills in their own scorecard with a 1 to 5 rating, a recommendation and notes, and all of them sit on one candidate profile. For early screening, set up a recorded video step with your own questions and preparation and answer timers. This is a general guide to interviewing practice for UAE teams, not legal advice. Anti-discrimination rules are set by UAE law and can change; confirm anything unusual with MOHRE or a UAE employment lawyer. --- # How to Run Payroll in the UAE: A Step-by-Step Guide > The actual steps a UAE company follows each pay run — calculating gross pay, applying legal deductions, submitting WPS, and what to keep track of separately. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-run-payroll-in-the-uae Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). September 2026 · 6 min read "Running payroll" in the UAE isn't just calculating what everyone's owed and hitting send — it's a specific sequence with a hard compliance layer (WPS) sitting in the middle of it, plus a couple of things that need tracking separately from the monthly cycle. ## The short answer > Calculate gross pay against each employee's actual labour contract, apply only legally permitted deductions, submit the payment through WPS within the required window, issue a matching payslip, and separately track gratuity accrual since it isn't part of the monthly transfer. Here's that broken into the actual sequence most UAE companies follow. ## 1. Set your payroll calendar Private-sector wages need to be paid at least once a month, and there's a limited window after the pay period ends to actually get the money to employees via WPS. Work backwards from that deadline: payroll calculation, internal approval, and WPS submission all need to happen with enough buffer that a delay in any one step doesn't blow the deadline. ## 2. Calculate gross pay per employee This means basic salary plus whatever contractual allowances apply — housing, transport, and any others — exactly as declared on that employee's signed MOHRE labour contract. Any raise, allowance change, or role change needs to be reflected on the contract itself, not just in an internal email or spreadsheet note, because the contract is what gets checked against if there's ever a dispute or a WPS mismatch. ## 3. Add overtime, where it applies Hours worked beyond an employee's normal schedule get paid at a legally mandated premium, and night-hour or rest-day overtime is calculated at a different rate again. We cover the actual mechanics in [a separate post on attendance and overtime](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-attendance-and-overtime-rules) — the short version is that overtime needs to be calculated per employee, per period, not estimated. ## 4. Apply only permitted deductions UAE law limits what can legally come out of an employee's wages — documented loan or advance repayments, unpaid absence, and amounts a court has ordered are the common categories, each with its own cap on how much can be deducted per period. It's not a general mechanism for recovering costs (a broken laptop, a missed target) from someone's pay without their agreement and the right documentation. ## 5. Submit via WPS The finalized net pay per employee becomes the basis for your WPS salary file, submitted through your registered WPS agent. We've written a separate [explainer on how WPS works](https://officehr.ae/blog/wps-explained-uae-wage-protection-system) and a practical [guide to generating the salary file itself](https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-create-a-sif-file-uae-wps) if you need the detail on that step specifically. ## 6. Issue payslips Each employee should get an itemized payslip that matches what was actually submitted through WPS for them — same gross, same deductions, same net. A payslip that doesn't reconcile with the WPS submission is exactly the kind of discrepancy that surfaces badly in a labour dispute. ## 7. Track gratuity separately End-of-service gratuity isn't part of the monthly wage transfer — it's calculated and paid out only when someone leaves. But it's still accruing every month they work, and treating it as a cost you'll deal with later, rather than tracking it as it builds, is how gratuity payouts turn into an unpleasant surprise. See our [gratuity calculation breakdown](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-gratuity-calculation-explained) for the actual formula. ## Where this goes wrong The recurring failure pattern is a payroll spreadsheet that's disconnected from everything else — the contract sits in one place, bank details in another, last month's overtime approval in an email thread — so nothing catches it when one of those goes stale before the WPS file is generated. The companies that struggle least with payroll are the ones where salary, bank details, and contract terms all live in one system that the pay run actually reads from, rather than one that gets manually re-typed into each month. This is a general explanation of the UAE payroll process for HR teams doing their own planning — not legal or accounting advice. Deduction caps, payment windows, and other specific figures are set by UAE labour law and WPS regulations and can change — confirm current specifics with MOHRE or your WPS agent rather than relying on this page for exact numbers. --- # How to Structure a Leave Policy for Your Company in the UAE > A step-by-step guide to building a UAE leave policy: the legal minimums to start from, what to add on top, and the accrual, approval, carry-over, and payout rules to write down. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-structure-a-leave-policy-uae Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). September 2026 · 6 min read Most leave disputes aren't really about the law. They're about a policy that was never written down — how much carries over, who approves, whether a public holiday inside a leave period counts as a leave day. A good leave structure is written once, applied the same way to everyone, and mostly runs itself. ## The short answer > Start from the legal minimums, add only the extras you'll honour consistently, then write down the mechanics — accrual, approval, carry-over, and payout on exit — in your contract or handbook, so the answer to any question is in a document rather than in someone's memory. > Free download: a ready-to-edit UAE leave policy template. > Every legal minimum is filled in, with policy choice boxes, worked examples and a leave request form. [Get the template](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-leave-policy-template#get-template). ## Step 1: Start with the legal floor UAE private-sector law sets minimum leave entitlements. Your policy can be more generous, never less. The main types: - **Annual leave** — 30 days a year after one year of service, accruing at two days a month between six and twelve months. ([Full breakdown](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-annual-leave-entitlement).) - **Sick leave** — up to 90 days a year on a tiered pay scale (15 days full pay, 30 half pay, 45 unpaid), with entitlement starting once probation is complete. ([Full breakdown](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-sick-leave-rules).) - **Maternity leave** — 60 days: 45 on full pay and 15 on half pay, with up to 45 further unpaid days for illness related to pregnancy or birth. Returning mothers are also entitled to nursing breaks of up to an hour a day for six months. - **Parental leave** — 5 working days of paid leave for either parent, taken within six months of the child's birth. - **Bereavement leave** — 5 days on the death of a spouse; 3 days for a parent, child, sibling, grandparent, or grandchild. - **Study leave** — up to 10 working days a year, paid, to sit exams at an accredited UAE institution, after two years of service. - **Hajj leave** — unpaid, up to 30 days, once per employment. - **Public holidays and weekly rest** — paid, and work on a holiday or rest day has to be compensated. (See [attendance and overtime rules](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-attendance-and-overtime-rules).) Umrah isn't a specific statutory leave type — whether it's deducted from annual leave, unpaid, or granted separately is up to you, so say which. ## Step 2: Decide what you'll add on top Extras — additional annual days, a birthday day, remote-work days, extra compassionate leave, Ramadan flexibility — are one of the cheapest ways to compete for hires. The rule: only add what you'll honour without exception. Generosity by exception is what creates disputes: the person who got an extra week last year, and the one who's refused this year. ## Step 3: Write down the mechanics Each of these needs a written answer: - **Leave year.** Calendar year or work anniversary. Either works; pick one and state it. - **Accrual.** Whether leave accrues monthly or is granted upfront, and how it's prorated for people who join mid-year. - **Requests and approvals.** Who approves, how much notice is needed, how quickly they must respond, and how clashes (two people, same week) are resolved. - **Peak periods.** Any dates when leave is restricted for business reasons, stated in advance rather than announced when someone asks. - **Half days and short absences.** Whether they're allowed and how they're recorded. - **Carry-over.** Whether unused annual leave carries over, how much, and when it expires. Leave is generally meant to be used in the year it's due, with carry-over by agreement — so make the agreement explicit. - **Payout.** Unused annual leave is paid out in the final settlement when someone leaves (see [our exit guide](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-resignation-notice-period-and-final-settlement)). Be cautious about paying cash instead of time off at other times. - **Public holidays inside leave.** Say explicitly how they're treated. The sensible default is that a public holiday falling within a leave period isn't counted as a leave day. ## Step 4: Settle the edge cases - **Probation.** How leave accrues and whether it can be taken. Sick leave entitlement, for one, only begins after probation. - **Part-time and contract staff.** Whether entitlements are prorated, and how. - **Unpaid leave.** Days of unpaid absence aren't counted towards service length for gratuity, so unpaid leave has a real cost to the employee that's worth explaining upfront. ([How gratuity is calculated](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-gratuity-calculation-explained).) - **Leave during notice.** Whether annual leave can be taken while someone is serving notice. - **Ramadan.** Working hours are reduced during Ramadan; decide how that interacts with leave and attendance rules. ## Step 5: Put it in writing and keep one source of truth Put the policy in the handbook, reference it in contracts, and have employees acknowledge it. Then make sure the balance an employee sees is exactly the balance payroll uses — leave tracked in one place, not a manager's spreadsheet plus HR's own. Review the policy every year; laws and public-holiday calendars change. ## Common mistakes - The policy lives in an old email rather than a document everyone can find. - Every manager keeps their own leave tracker, and none of them match HR's. - Approvals happen verbally, so nobody can later prove what was agreed. - Half days and short absences aren't tracked at all. - Accrued leave is treated as free. It's a liability that grows quietly until someone leaves. - The rules are applied differently to different people. This is a general guide to structuring a leave policy under UAE private-sector labour law, for HR teams doing their own planning — not legal advice. Entitlements are set by law and can change; confirm current figures with MOHRE or the UAE government's official employment pages, and have unusual arrangements reviewed by a UAE labour lawyer. --- # HR Software Pricing in the UAE (2027): What Small Teams Actually Pay > How UAE HR and payroll software is priced: per-employee, base fee plus per-seat, tiered and quote-only models, annual discounts, VAT and hidden costs, with worked examples for 10, 25 and 50 employees. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/hr-software-pricing-in-the-uae-2027-what-small-teams-pay Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). October 2026 · 8 min read Headline prices for HR software are rarely what you end up paying. Between base fees, per-employee rates, annual commitments, setup charges and 5% VAT, two products with similar-looking prices can differ by thousands of dirhams a year. Here is how to compare them properly. ## The short answer > Compare total annual cost for your own headcount, including VAT, setup and add-ons, not the headline rate. Prefer vendors that publish prices or give a written quote before the demo, and check what happens to your bill when headcount goes up or down. > **Full disclosure:** we build OfficeHR, so we've put ourselves in this list and we're not a neutral party. To keep it useful, we say how we ranked, give each option's real strengths and limits, and explain when OfficeHR is *not* the right choice. Products and prices change, so verify anything that matters with the vendor and test with your own data before you commit. ## The common pricing models - **Per employee per month.** A rate multiplied by headcount. Simple, but check the minimum number of employees you're billed for. - **Base fee plus per-employee rates.** A fixed monthly fee that includes a number of employees, then a rate for each extra one. This is how OfficeHR is priced. - **Tiered rates.** The per-employee rate falls as headcount grows, which rewards growth. - **Flat plans by company size.** A band price for, say, up to 20 or 50 employees. - **Quote-only.** No published price. Fine if you get a written total early, a warning sign if it stays vague until after the demo. ## What counts as an "employee" or "seat" This is where two similar prices diverge. Some vendors bill every login, some bill every employee record including leavers or candidates, and some bill only active employees on payroll. Ask exactly what is counted and when. At OfficeHR, a seat is an active employee on payroll, not a login, and candidates or applicants in the hiring pipeline are never counted. ## Costs that sit outside the headline rate - **5% VAT.** Usually quoted excluding VAT, then added to the invoice. - **Setup or implementation fees.** Sometimes larger than the first year's subscription. - **Data migration.** Is moving your existing records included? - **Add-on modules.** Recruiting, attendance, performance or payroll may be priced separately. - **Annual commitments and minimums.** Annual plans are usually cheaper, but they commit your seat count for the year. - **Support tiers.** Check whether UAE-hours support and WPS help are included. ## Worked examples: what OfficeHR costs These use OfficeHR's published prices, excluding VAT. Annual billing charges 10 months instead of 12. - 10 employees — AED 300 per month, or AED 3,000 a year - 25 employees (base + 15 at AED 30) — AED 750 per month, or AED 7,500 a year - 50 employees (base + 15 at AED 30 + 25 at AED 25) — AED 1,375 per month, or AED 13,750 a year Add 5% VAT on top. There is no setup fee. You can check any headcount with the [pricing calculator](https://officehr.ae/pricing). ## How to compare two quotes fairly 1. Use the same headcount for every vendor, and the headcount you expect next year too. 2. Convert everything to total annual cost including VAT, setup and any modules you'll actually use. 3. Ask what happens to the bill when you add or remove people, on monthly and annual plans. 4. Ask what it costs to leave, and whether you can export all your data. 5. Weigh the price against what you spend today: the hours your team loses each month, and the cost of a rejected salary file or a disputed final settlement. Our [checklist for choosing HR software](https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-choose-hr-software-uae) lists the questions to ask every vendor. For ranked options, see the [best HR software](https://officehr.ae/blog/best-hr-software-in-the-uae-2027), [best payroll software](https://officehr.ae/blog/best-payroll-software-in-the-uae-2027) and [best hiring software](https://officehr.ae/blog/best-hiring-software-in-the-uae-2027) guides. This guide was written by the makers of OfficeHR and reflects its published prices as of October 2026. Prices change; confirm current figures on the pricing page. Other vendors' pricing varies and isn't listed here, so request written quotes. --- # UAE Annual Leave Entitlement Explained: How Much Paid Leave Employees Are Owed > How much paid annual leave UAE employees are entitled to, how it accrues before 1 year of service, and how carry-over and payout at exit work. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-annual-leave-entitlement Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). September 2026 · 4 min read Annual leave is a legal entitlement under UAE labour law, not a discretionary company benefit — and how much an employee has banked matters for both day-to-day approvals and final settlements. ## The short answer > 30 calendar days per year, once an employee has completed 1 full year of continuous service. Before that first year is up, leave still accrues — just on a shorter scale: - **6 months to 1 year of service:** leave accrues at 2 days per calendar month worked. - **Under 6 months of service:** no annual leave entitlement has accrued yet. - **1 year of service or more:** the full 30 days per year applies going forward. ## What doesn't count against annual leave If a public holiday or a period of certified sick leave happens to fall during an employee's booked annual leave, those days aren't deducted from their annual leave balance — the leave effectively pauses for that overlap. ## Timing is the employer's call, within reason An employer can generally schedule when annual leave is taken (accounting for business needs), but employees should get reasonable advance notice rather than having leave decided last-minute. Many UAE companies also allow a portion of unused leave to carry over into the next year, or let employees encash a portion instead of taking time off — both are matters of company policy layered on top of the legal minimum, not something the law mandates a specific way. ## Leave balance at exit Whatever annual leave an employee has accrued but not taken is paid out as part of their final settlement when they leave — calculated on their basic wage, the same wage basis used for gratuity. This is separate from gratuity itself; an employee gets both their unused leave payout *and* their gratuity (if eligible), not one or the other. ## Setting this up correctly matters more than it looks The accrual method a company chooses affects what an employee's balance actually is at any given moment — some companies grant the full year's leave upfront on the anniversary date, others accrue it monthly as the year progresses. Both are legitimate approaches to reaching the same annual entitlement; the difference shows up in mid-year balances and in what's owed if someone leaves partway through the year. This is a general explanation of UAE annual leave entitlement under the UAE Labour Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021) for HR teams doing their own planning — not legal advice for a specific case. Confirm anything unusual (part-time contracts, unpaid leave periods, disputed balances) with a UAE labour lawyer before acting on it. --- # UAE Attendance and Overtime Rules Explained > How standard working hours, overtime pay, night-hour rates, and rest-day work actually work under UAE labour law — and how to track attendance so it holds up in a dispute. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-attendance-and-overtime-rules Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). September 2026 · 5 min read Most attendance disputes in the UAE don't come down to a disagreement about the law — they come down to nobody having a real record of what hours were actually worked. The rules themselves are fairly clear; the tracking is where small companies fall down. ## The short answer > Standard hours are typically 8 a day or 48 a week. Anything beyond that is overtime, paid at the normal hourly rate plus at least 25% — or at least 50% for late-night hours — and you need an actual attendance record to prove any of this if it's ever disputed. ## Standard working hours The common default under UAE labour law is 8 hours a day or 48 hours a week, though certain sectors (retail, hospitality, and a few others) run under their own arrangements. Working hours are also reduced for Muslim employees during Ramadan, by a set amount per day. ## How overtime pay actually works - **Standard overtime** — hours worked beyond the normal schedule are paid at the normal hourly wage plus an increase of at least 25%. - **Night-hour overtime** — overtime worked during a defined late-night window is paid at a higher premium again, commonly at least 50% above the normal rate, rather than the standard 25%. - **Rest-day work** — if an employee is required to work on their weekly rest day (usually Friday, or whichever day is contractually agreed), they're generally entitled to either a substitute day off or pay at a premium rate for those hours, not just their normal wage. - **A daily cap applies** — total hours including overtime generally shouldn't exceed a fixed ceiling per day, except in narrow circumstances like preventing serious loss or an accident. Because the exact percentages, night-hour window, and daily caps are set in UAE labour law and its executive regulations, treat the figures above as the general shape of the rules rather than numbers to calculate payroll from directly — confirm the current specifics before running overtime pay. ## Who's excluded Employees in genuine supervisory or managerial roles — people with real decision-making authority comparable to the employer's own, not just a senior job title — are generally excluded from overtime entitlement. Everyone else working measurable hours against a schedule is generally entitled to it if they exceed that schedule. ## Why attendance records matter more than the rules themselves In practice, overtime disputes rarely hinge on whether the 25% or 50% premium applies — they hinge on whether anyone can actually show how many hours were worked in the first place. An assumed "everyone's in from 9 to 6" schedule, or a paper sign-in sheet nobody reconciles, falls apart the moment an employee claims they were regularly staying late unpaid. In a dispute, the burden of showing accurate hours worked commonly falls on the employer — which means no record is the worst position to be in, not a neutral one. ## What good attendance tracking actually looks like 1. Actual clock-in/clock-out data — biometric, app-based, or badge — not an assumed fixed schedule. 2. Overtime that's flagged and approved before it's paid, not silently accrued and settled at month-end. 3. A clear distinction in the record between standard hours, night-hour overtime, and rest-day work, since each is paid differently. 4. Exportable historical records — if a dispute or a labour inspection happens six months later, you need the data to still be there, not living in a manager's memory. This is a general explanation of UAE attendance and overtime rules for HR teams doing their own planning — not legal advice. Exact overtime percentages, the night-hour time window, daily/weekly hour caps, and sector-specific exceptions are set by UAE labour law and its executive regulations and can change — confirm current specifics with MOHRE or a UAE labour lawyer before relying on them for payroll calculations. --- # Emiratisation (Nafis) Quotas: What UAE Employers Actually Need to Do > A practical guide to UAE Emiratisation and Nafis quotas for private-sector employers: which companies are covered, how the target is calculated, and what non-compliance costs. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-emiratisation-nafis-quota-explained Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). October 2026 · 6 min read Emiratisation is the one UAE compliance obligation that's expanded, not narrowed, every year since it started — and the headcount band it now covers runs straight through the kind of company OfficeHR is built for. ## The short answer > Private-sector companies above a certain headcount must employ a minimum, growing percentage of UAE nationals in skilled roles, or pay a monthly financial contribution for every position that falls short. The headcount threshold has been lowered over time, so check whether it now applies to you — don't assume it's still a large-company-only rule. ## Who it applies to The quota originally targeted private-sector companies with 50 or more employees, requiring them to grow their Emirati headcount in skilled roles by a set percentage each year, working toward an overall target. It has since been extended to smaller companies — in a defined list of priority sectors, firms with as few as 20 employees have been brought into scope, with a lighter obligation (such as employing at least one or two Emiratis) rather than the full percentage target. Because this scope has moved every year since it started, confirm current applicability for your exact headcount and sector directly with MOHRE or the Nafis platform rather than assuming last year's answer still holds. ## How the target is calculated - The quota counts **skilled roles** — positions above a minimum salary and qualification threshold — not your full headcount. - Covered companies are expected to increase their Emirati headcount in those roles by a set percentage each year, building toward a cumulative target over several years from a set baseline year. - Smaller companies brought into scope more recently typically face a flat minimum headcount (one or two Emirati hires) rather than a percentage. Because the baseline, percentage, and sector list are set centrally and have changed more than once, don't calculate your obligation from memory or an old article — pull your company's actual target from the Nafis platform or MOHRE. ## What non-compliance costs Companies that miss their target pay a recurring monthly financial contribution for each Emirati position they haven't filled, calculated per missing position rather than as a single flat fine. This monthly rate has risen each year since the scheme began and is set centrally, so budget for it going up rather than staying flat — confirm the current rate directly with MOHRE or Nafis rather than relying on last year's figure, since quoted amounts for this change year to year and source to source. ## What counts in your favour Beyond headcount, the scheme recognises things like structured training and development programmes for Emirati staff, and participation in Nafis's own support programmes (which can subsidise salaries and benefits for Emirati hires, making them cheaper to bring on than the sticker salary suggests). It's worth treating Emiratisation as a hiring and retention strategy, not only a compliance line item — the subsidies and incentives on offer can make it the cheaper option in practice. ## What HR should actually do 1. Confirm your company's exact headcount band, sector, and target on the Nafis platform — don't assume you're exempt because you were last year. 2. Track your current Emirati headcount in skilled roles against the target the same way you'd track any other compliance metric, not as a year-end surprise. 3. Build Emiratisation into your hiring plan for the year rather than scrambling in the final quarter — skilled Emirati candidates are also in demand elsewhere. 4. Check whether Nafis incentives apply to roles you're already planning to fill. 5. Re-check your obligation whenever your headcount crosses a threshold, since growing past 20 or 50 employees can change what applies to you overnight. This is a general explanation of UAE Emiratisation and Nafis requirements for HR teams and business owners doing their own planning — not legal advice. Headcount thresholds, sector coverage, targets, incentives, and fines are set by UAE authorities, have changed in most years since the scheme began, and can change again; confirm your company's current obligation directly with MOHRE or the Nafis platform before budgeting or hiring against it. --- # UAE Employee Onboarding Checklist: From Signed Offer to Day One > A practical onboarding checklist for UAE employers: what to sort before day one (contract, work permit, insurance, bank details), what to do in the first week, and how to run probation. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-employee-onboarding-checklist Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). September 2026 · 5 min read In the UAE, onboarding starts before day one. Permits, medical tests, and insurance all have to be sorted, and a missed step can delay a start date or leave you with a new hire who can't yet work legally. A checklist with a named owner is what turns a stressful first fortnight into a routine. ## The short answer > Onboarding has three phases: before day one (offer, contract, permits, insurance, bank details), the first week (records, policies, access, expectations), and probation (structured check-ins). The pre-arrival phase is the one with legal dependencies, so treat it as the critical path. ## Before day one - **Offer letter.** Clear terms — salary split into basic and allowances, start date, probation, notice period, and leave — signed by the candidate. - **Employment contract.** A fixed-term contract (see [why every UAE contract is now fixed-term](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-limited-vs-unlimited-contracts)) that matches the offer exactly. Mismatches between the offer, the contract, and payroll are a classic source of disputes and WPS problems. - **Work permit and residence status.** Depending on whether the person is already in the UAE, this typically involves an entry or status-change process, a medical fitness test, Emirates ID biometrics, and residence visa issuance. Timelines vary, so ask your PRO or typing centre for realistic dates and build them into the start date. As a rule, a new hire shouldn't start work before their permit and residence status are in order — confirm the specifics for each case with MOHRE or your PRO. - **Health insurance.** Mandatory in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with requirements that vary by emirate. Arrange cover before or at the start date. - **Bank details for WPS.** You need the employee's IBAN, with a WPS-registered bank or exchange house, before the first salary run. (See [how the salary file works](https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-create-a-sif-file-uae-wps).) Collect it before the first payday, not after. - **Documents and details.** Passport copy, photo, education certificates (attested where the role requires it), emergency contact, and anything else your HR system needs. ## The first week - **Create the employee record** so the first payroll run includes them correctly: contract terms, salary components, bank details, and leave entitlement. - **Get the paperwork signed** — handbook, code of conduct, confidentiality — ideally e-signed and stored on the record. - **Equipment and access:** laptop, email, systems, and building or ID access. - **Explain attendance and leave**: how to clock in, request leave, and report sick. (See [sick leave rules](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-sick-leave-rules).) - **Role clarity:** what success looks like at 30, 60, and 90 days, and who to ask for what. - **Introductions** and a named buddy. ## Probation UAE labour law allows a probation period of up to six months, and shorter notice rules apply during it. Treat it as a structured evaluation rather than a waiting period: set expectations on day one, schedule reviews (30, 60, and 90 days work well), and record the outcome of each. Also decide explicitly how leave works during probation — for example, sick leave entitlement only begins once probation is complete, and your policy should say how annual leave accrues in the meantime. (See [structuring a leave policy](https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-structure-a-leave-policy-uae).) ## Common mistakes - Letting someone start before their permit and residence status are in order. - An offer, a contract, and a payroll record that don't match. - Missing bank details, so the first salary is late — and late is a WPS problem, not just an awkward conversation. - Leaving insurance enrolment until someone needs to claim. - No documented probation reviews, so a decision at month five has nothing behind it. - Relying on one person's memory instead of a checklist. ## Make it repeatable Build the checklist once as a template, with an owner and a due date against every item, and reuse it for each hire, adjusting for role and location. The steps that involve other people — IT, the hiring manager, your PRO — are the ones that get dropped, so make them explicit tasks rather than assumptions. This is a general onboarding guide for HR teams doing their own planning — not legal advice. Work permit, visa, medical, and insurance procedures and timelines are set by UAE authorities and can change; confirm current requirements for each hire with MOHRE or your PRO. --- # UAE Gratuity Calculation Explained: How End-of-Service Pay Actually Works > How UAE end-of-service gratuity is actually calculated under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021: the daily-wage formula, the 21/30-day tiers, the 2-year cap, what happens when an employee resigns, and who's exempt. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-gratuity-calculation-explained Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). September 2026 · 6 min read End-of-service gratuity is a legal entitlement, not a bonus — and the formula is fixed by law, not negotiable per company. Here's exactly how it's calculated under UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021. ## The short answer Gratuity is calculated on the employee's **basic salary only** (not housing, transport, or other allowances), using a daily wage rate: > Daily wage rate = (Basic monthly salary × 12) ÷ 365 That daily rate is then paid out per year of service: - **21 days' wage** for each of the first 5 years of service. - **30 days' wage** for each year beyond 5 years. - The total is capped at **2 years' total basic wage**, however long the employee has actually worked. An employee needs at least **1 full year of service** to be entitled to anything at all — there's no pro-rated gratuity for less than a year. ## Worked example An employee on **AED 10,000/month basic salary**, terminated by the employer after **7 years** of service: - Daily wage rate (10,000 × 12 ÷ 365) — AED 328.77 - Years 1–5 · 21 days/year × 5 — 105 days - Years 6–7 · 30 days/year × 2 — 60 days - Total entitlement (165 days × daily rate) — AED 54,246.58 (Well under the 2-year cap here, which would be AED 240,000 — the cap only bites at much longer tenures or higher salaries.) ## Resigning doesn't reduce it Under the current law, gratuity doesn't depend on who ended the contract. An employee who **resigns** is entitled to the same calculation as one whose contract the employer ends, as long as they've completed at least **one year of continuous service**. This is a change from the old 1980 law, under which employees on unlimited contracts who resigned before five years received only a fraction of their gratuity (one-third or two-thirds, depending on length of service). The 2021 law removed those reductions, with a transition period for existing unlimited contracts that ended in February 2023. If you're working from an older HR template or spreadsheet that still applies a resignation reduction, it's out of date. ## Who isn't eligible UAE nationals and other GCC nationals (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman) are generally **not** eligible for end-of-service gratuity at all. They're enrolled in GPSSA (the General Pension and Social Security Authority) or their home country's equivalent pension scheme instead — gratuity and that pension scheme aren't paid together. The one exception is if the relevant national pension authority has given written approval for that specific employee to opt out of the pension scheme, in which case standard gratuity rules apply to them. ## When it's paid By law, gratuity is due within **14 days** of the employment relationship ending. This is a general explanation of UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 (Labour Law), Articles 51 and 53, for HR teams doing their own planning — not legal advice for a specific case. Labour law can be amended and specific employment contracts can include their own terms; confirm anything unusual (part-time contracts, secondments, disputed terminations) with a UAE labour lawyer before acting on it. --- # From Offer to Day One: UAE Job Offers, Work Permits and What You Can't Charge a New Hire > What a UAE job offer should include, how it connects to the MOHRE contract and work permit, who pays recruitment and visa costs, and how to handle documents and background checks between acceptance and day one. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-job-offer-letter-and-work-permit-guide-for-employers Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). October 2026 · 7 min read The weeks between a candidate saying yes and their first day are where hires get lost, and where employers most often make avoidable mistakes: an offer that doesn't match the contract, a start date before the permit exists, or recruitment costs passed on to the new hire. A little structure avoids all three. ## The short answer > Make the offer match the contract that will be registered, don't let anyone start before the work permit is issued, and don't pass recruitment or visa costs on to the new hire. Collect documents early, and run background checks only with written consent, after a conditional offer. ## What a UAE job offer should include Put everything the candidate needs to make a decision in writing, and make sure it agrees with the contract that will follow: - **Job title, reporting line, start date and place of work.** - **Salary, itemised.** Basic salary and each allowance separately, because gratuity is based on basic pay. (See [how gratuity is calculated](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-gratuity-calculation-explained).) - **Working days and hours**, and the overtime and attendance rules that apply. (See [our overtime guide](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-attendance-and-overtime-rules).) - **Probation.** If you intend one, it must be in the contract, and it can't exceed six months. (See [probation rules](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-probation-period-rules).) - **Contract term and notice period.** Every private-sector contract is limited-term. (See [limited vs unlimited contracts](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-limited-vs-unlimited-contracts).) - **Annual leave and other benefits**, including health insurance. (See [annual leave entitlement](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-annual-leave-entitlement) and [mandatory health insurance](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-mandatory-health-insurance-for-employees).) Anything promised in the offer but missing from the contract is a future dispute. Keep one source of truth, and make sure the salary, role and benefits in the offer are exactly what ends up registered. ## The path from acceptance to day one 1. **Conditional offer.** Subject to references, documents and the work permit. 2. **Candidate accepts** in writing. 3. **Collect documents.** Passport, photo, qualification certificates (attested where required), and Emirates ID and current visa details if they're already in the UAE. 4. **Work permit and contract** are processed with MOHRE. Free-zone employers follow their own authority's process. 5. **Medical, Emirates ID and residence visa** are completed, and health insurance is arranged. 6. **Start date confirmed** once the permit and the other legal steps are in place. The exact sequence depends on whether the candidate is inside or outside the UAE and whether you're mainland or free zone, so confirm it with MOHRE or your PRO before promising a date. ## Work permit first, work second UAE labour law requires a MOHRE work permit before a worker is employed. If someone is eager to "just start" while the paperwork is processed, the answer is no: agree a start date the process can realistically meet, and say so in the offer. ## Who pays: recruitment and visa costs Under UAE labour law the employer bears the costs of recruiting and employing a worker, such as the work permit, visa, medical test and residence permit. Charging these to the worker, directly or indirectly, isn't allowed. In practice: - Don't deduct visa or recruitment costs from pay. - Don't ask a candidate to "contribute" to a fee. - Don't count on a clause requiring repayment if someone resigns in their first year to hold up. UAE lawyers commonly advise against it. If you use a recruitment agency, the fee is yours to agree and pay, in writing, with the agency, not with the candidate. Only licensed entities may do recruitment work in the UAE, so check that any agency you use is licensed. ## Reference and background checks - Do them after a conditional offer, not at the start. - Get written consent first, and tell the candidate what you'll check and why. - Check only what is relevant to the role. Candidate details are personal data under UAE data protection rules. - If something unexpected comes up, give the candidate a chance to explain before deciding. ## Mistakes to avoid - A start date set before the permit is realistic. - An offer whose salary breakdown differs from the contract. - Probation or notice terms left out of the written contract. - Documents collected across email, WhatsApp and photos with no single list of what's missing. - No plan for week one, so a well-hired person waits for a laptop and a login. (Use the [onboarding checklist](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-employee-onboarding-checklist).) ## Where OfficeHR fits > In OfficeHR the offer is a step on the same hiring board as every other stage, so nothing sits in one person's inbox. Once someone joins, their documents live in one place, HR can add Emirates ID and passport details by uploading the card images (the details are read from the image and checked before saving), and your onboarding template gives each new joiner a task list, so day one is ready. This is a general guide to UAE offers and work permits for employers doing their own planning, not legal advice for a specific case. Work permit, visa, recruitment cost and data protection rules are set by UAE authorities, can differ for free zones and can change; confirm anything unusual with MOHRE or a UAE labour lawyer. --- # Free UAE Leave Policy Template (Editable Word File) > A free, editable UAE leave policy template in Word: 16 policy sections, legal minimums filled in, policy choice boxes, worked examples and a leave request form. Enter your email and we send it to you. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-leave-policy-template Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). October 2026 · 5 min read · Free template A leave policy you can adopt in an afternoon. It is written in plain English, the legal minimums are already filled in with the source article next to each one, and the places where the law leaves a choice are marked for you to decide. ## The short answer > This is a Word template for UAE companies with 16 policy sections. Fill in your company details, tick the options that suit you, and you have a complete leave policy, a leave request form and an employee sign-off sheet. It is free: enter your email below and we send it to you. ## Get the free template Enter your email and press Enter. We'll email you the editable Word file straight away. Email me the template Website Also send me occasional updates on UAE HR and payroll rules (optional). We use your email to send the template, and we keep it so we can follow up if you have questions. We don't sell it. Not seeing the email? Check your spam folder, or write to [hello@officehr.ae](mailto:hello@officehr.ae). This form needs JavaScript. You can also email [hello@officehr.ae](mailto:hello@officehr.ae) and we'll send the template. ## Why write a leave policy at all Most leave disputes are not really arguments about the law. They happen because the rules were never written down: how leave is counted, who approves it, what is paid while someone is away, and what happens to unused days when they leave. When the answer lives in a manager's memory, two people in the same situation get two different answers. A written policy gives every manager the same answer. (For the thinking behind it, read [how to structure a leave policy](https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-structure-a-leave-policy-uae).) ## What is in the template - Purpose - Scope - Definitions - General rules for all leave - Annual leave - Sick leave - Maternity leave - Parental leave - Bereavement leave - Study leave - Hajj and Umrah leave - National and reserve service - Public holidays and weekly rest - Unpaid leave and other leave - Leave records - Policy review After the 16 sections there are five appendices you can use straight away, and a references page listing the official sources: - **A. Entitlements at a glance.** A one page summary of every leave type. - **B. Worked examples.** Real sums for the situations that cause the most arguments, such as how leave is paid and how unused leave is calculated when someone leaves. - **C. The eight leave disputes employees raise most.** Each one is matched to the clause in the policy that answers it. - **D. A leave request form.** - **E. An employee acknowledgement sheet**, so you have a signed record that staff have read the policy. ## How the policy choice boxes work This is the part that makes the template more than a copy of the law. Where the law sets a minimum but leaves room, the template shows a yellow **Policy choice** box. The first option is always the legal minimum, and the others are more generous. You tick one and delete the rest. For example, you decide how public holidays that fall inside someone's annual leave are treated, and how leave in the first months of service works. There are nine of these boxes, so the policy ends up reflecting what your company will actually do. Your policy can always give employees more than the law requires, and it can never give them less. ## Who it is for The template follows the UAE federal labour law that applies to mainland companies and most free zones. It does **not** apply to companies in the DIFC or ADGM, which have their own employment laws, or to domestic workers and federal government employees. If your company is one of those, use it only as a starting point and take advice. ## How to use it in four steps 1. **Replace the highlighted fields**, such as [Company Name] and the leave year, with your own details. 2. **Make your choices.** Tick one option in each Policy choice box and delete the others. 3. **Get it checked.** Have an HR professional or a UAE employment lawyer read the final version. The clause on public holidays that fall inside annual leave is a good one to ask about. 4. **Share it and collect sign-offs.** Give it to every employee, and keep the signed acknowledgement sheets (Appendix E). ## Related guides - [UAE annual leave entitlement](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-annual-leave-entitlement) - [UAE sick leave rules](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-sick-leave-rules) - [How end of service gratuity is calculated](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-gratuity-calculation-explained) - [Attendance and overtime rules](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-attendance-and-overtime-rules) This template and page are general information based on UAE federal labour law as checked in October 2026. They are not legal advice. Laws and public holiday announcements change, so check anything unusual with MOHRE or a qualified UAE employment lawyer before you adopt a policy. --- # Limited vs Unlimited Contracts in the UAE: Why Only One of These Still Exists > Why 'unlimited' employment contracts no longer exist in the UAE, what every contract being fixed-term actually changes, and what it means for gratuity and notice. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-limited-vs-unlimited-contracts Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). September 2026 · 4 min read This comes up constantly in UAE hiring conversations because the old distinction is still floating around in job ads, templates, and people's heads — even though it's no longer how UAE contracts actually work. ## The short answer > Unlimited contracts don't exist anymore. Every private-sector employment contract in the UAE has to be a limited-term (fixed-term) contract. Under the UAE's labour law reform, the old "unlimited contract" — an open-ended arrangement with no set end date — was phased out. Existing unlimited contracts had to be converted to limited-term ones, and every new contract since has to be fixed-term from the start. ## What "limited-term" actually means in practice - A contract term can run for up to **3 years**. - It can be **renewed** for further terms, with no cap on how many times — an employee can genuinely work at the same company for a decade-plus on a series of renewed fixed terms. - What ends is the individual **term**, not automatically the employment relationship — most ongoing employment is a fixed-term contract that keeps renewing, not a one-off 3-year stint. ## What this changed for employers The practical shift is mostly about how a contract ends. With a fixed term, both sides know the contract's end date going in; ending the relationship earlier than that (by either side) is treated as an early termination of a fixed term, with its own notice and compensation considerations — rather than the older unlimited-contract logic of arbitrary dismissal compensation. ## What it didn't change: gratuity One thing that stays exactly the same regardless of contract type: end-of-service gratuity. It's calculated on years of service and basic salary — the old limited/unlimited split, and the reductions for resigning early, affected gratuity under the previous law, but under the current law every eligible employee's gratuity is worked out the same way, contract type and reason for leaving aside. (We cover exactly how that calculation works in [a separate post](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-gratuity-calculation-explained).) This is a general explanation of the UAE's shift to fixed-term contracts under the UAE Labour Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021) for HR teams doing their own planning — not legal advice for a specific case. Contract drafting, early-termination compensation, and renewal terms should be confirmed with a UAE labour lawyer, especially for anything unusual. --- # Mandatory Health Insurance for Employees in the UAE: What Employers Must Provide > What UAE employers are required to provide for employee health insurance: the Essential Benefits Plan minimum, who pays, how it ties to visa renewal, and emirate-by-emirate differences. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-mandatory-health-insurance-for-employees Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). October 2026 · 5 min read Health insurance for employees isn't optional in the UAE, isn't something you can pass the cost to the employee for, and — as of a federal update taking effect across the country — is now tied directly to whether an employee's residence permit can be issued or renewed at all. ## The short answer > Employers must provide health insurance meeting at least the Essential Benefits Plan (EBP) standard for every employee, at the employer's own cost — it can't be deducted from salary or offset against wages. From 1 January 2025, valid health insurance is required across the UAE to issue or renew a private-sector employee's residence permit, not only in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. ## What changed, and when Mandatory employer-provided health insurance has existed for longer in Dubai (since 2014, under DHA regulation) and Abu Dhabi (since 2006, under the Department of Health). From 1 January 2025, the requirement has extended UAE-wide: a valid policy is now a condition of issuing or renewing a private-sector employee's or domestic worker's residence permit in every emirate, not only Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Policies issued under the new system are generally valid for two years, and coverage must run for the full length of the employee's residence permit. Confirm the current transitional rules for any work permit issued before 1 January 2024, since those have their own timeline for coming into scope. ## What coverage is required The minimum is the **Essential Benefits Plan (EBP)**, which generally has to include: - Outpatient consultations and diagnostics - Emergency care - Maternity cover - Prescribed medication - Chronic disease management A commonly cited minimum annual benefit figure is around AED 150,000 — confirm the current minimum with an insurer or the relevant health authority, since it's reviewed periodically. You can always offer a richer plan than the EBP minimum; you can't offer less. ## Who pays, and for whom - **The employer pays for the employee**, in full. The premium cannot be deducted from salary or set off against wages — it's a cost of employing someone, not a benefit the employee is funding themselves. - **Dependants are usually the sponsor's responsibility**, meaning an employee generally has to arrange and pay for their own spouse's or children's cover. Abu Dhabi is the one emirate where the employer is legally required to cover dependants as well — check this specifically if you employ people sponsored in Abu Dhabi. ## What happens if you don't comply Penalties for not providing required coverage range widely depending on the violation — commonly cited figures run from several hundred to well over a hundred thousand dirhams — and, separately, a missing or lapsed policy can directly block a residence permit renewal regardless of any fine. In practice the permit-renewal consequence is usually the one that actually stops work, since it affects the employee's ability to stay in the country at all. ## What HR should actually do 1. Arrange EBP-minimum (or better) cover as part of onboarding, before the employee's first residence permit is issued. (See [our onboarding checklist](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-employee-onboarding-checklist).) 2. Track each policy's renewal date against the employee's own visa and permit renewal — they need to line up. 3. If you're in Abu Dhabi, confirm whether your obligation extends to dependants and budget accordingly. 4. Re-verify requirements before renewing any permit issued before 1 January 2024, since the transition rules differ for those cases. 5. Don't quietly let a group policy lapse between renewal cycles — a gap of even a few weeks can be the thing that blocks a permit renewal later. This is a general explanation of UAE employer health insurance obligations for HR teams doing their own planning — not legal or insurance advice. Minimum coverage standards, costs, dependant rules, transitional timelines, and penalties vary by emirate and are set by the relevant health authorities; confirm current requirements with a licensed insurer or the Dubai Health Authority / Department of Health – Abu Dhabi before relying on figures in this article. --- # UAE Probation Period Rules: What Employers Can and Can't Do > How probation works under UAE labour law: the maximum length, notice to end it, what happens if an employee moves to another employer mid-probation, and what's owed if it doesn't work out. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-probation-period-rules Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). October 2026 · 5 min read Probation gives both sides a trial run, but it isn't a legal grey zone — the maximum length, the notice required to end it, and what the employee is owed are all fixed, and getting any of them wrong turns a straightforward non-confirmation into a dispute. ## The short answer > Probation can run up to six months and can't be extended or repeated with the same employer. Either side can end it with written notice — at least 14 days if the employer ends it, 30 days if the employee is moving to another UAE employer, 14 days if they're leaving the country — and the employee is still owed everything they've earned up to the last working day. ## The basics - **Maximum length:** six months from the employee's start date. It cannot be extended, and it cannot be repeated if the same employer re-hires them later for the same or a similar role. - **It has to be written into the contract.** If the contract doesn't specify a probation period, the employee is treated as confirmed from day one. - **Normal employment protections still apply** during probation — the employee is paid their full agreed salary and is covered by the same conduct and safety rules as everyone else. ## Ending probation: the notice rules Three different scenarios, three different notice periods: - **Employer ends it.** At least 14 days' written notice to the employee. - **Employee resigns to join another employer within the UAE.** At least 30 days' written notice. The new employer may also owe the original employer compensation for recruitment or contracting costs, unless agreed otherwise — this is one that trips up both sides, since the employee's new employer is often the one caught off guard by it. - **Employee resigns to leave the UAE** (not taking up another role here). At least 14 days' written notice. Either way, put the notice in writing and keep it on the employee's file — a verbal conversation is exactly what gets disputed later. ## What's owed if probation doesn't work out - **Pay up to the last working day**, in full. - **Accrued annual leave**, even for a short tenure — leave accrues from day one, it's just that the right to actually take it generally kicks in after six months. (See [our leave policy guide](https://officehr.ae/blog/how-to-structure-a-leave-policy-uae).) - **Gratuity doesn't apply.** It requires at least one year of continuous service, so someone who doesn't pass probation won't be eligible. (See [how gratuity is calculated](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-gratuity-calculation-explained).) - **Sick leave is the one real gap.** Paid sick leave entitlement only begins once probation is completed, so plan for that explicitly in your policy rather than leaving it to be worked out case by case. The settlement mechanics otherwise mirror a normal exit — see [our guide to resignation and final settlement](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-resignation-notice-period-and-final-settlement) for how to calculate what's owed and the 14-day payment deadline. ## Make probation actually useful, not just a formality - Set expectations in writing on day one — what "passing" probation actually looks like for this specific role. - Schedule real check-ins (30/60/90 days works well) and keep a written record of each one. - Decide by week eight whether it's working, not week twenty-five. Ending it with proper notice in month two is far less disruptive, for both sides, than doing it in month six. - If it's going well, confirm it in writing — don't let probation quietly expire without a clear, documented confirmation. This is a general explanation of UAE probation rules for HR teams doing their own planning — not legal advice for a specific case. Notice periods, compensation rules for moving employer, and entitlements during probation are set by UAE labour law and can change, and specific contracts can add their own terms; confirm anything unusual with MOHRE or a UAE labour lawyer. --- # Resignation, Notice Period, and Final Settlement in the UAE > What HR needs to do when an employee resigns in the UAE: the 30–90 day notice period, what goes into the final settlement, the 14-day payment deadline, and permit cancellation. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-resignation-notice-period-and-final-settlement Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). September 2026 · 6 min read When someone resigns, the HR job isn't "process the exit" — it's a sequence with fixed deadlines: notice, handover, final payment, permit cancellation. Miss the payment deadline and a routine resignation becomes a labour dispute. ## The short answer > Serve or agree the notice period (30 to 90 days, set in the contract), calculate everything the employee is owed — final salary, gratuity if eligible, unused annual leave, and any other dues — pay it within 14 days of the contract ending, and cancel their work permit and residence visa. ## Notice period: what the law says The notice period is set in the employment contract, but under UAE labour law it can't be shorter than 30 days or longer than 90, and it's given in writing. During the notice period the employment relationship continues, so the employee is paid and keeps accruing benefits as normal. You can ask them to work the notice, or agree to release them early — in which case be clear, in writing, about whether the remaining notice is paid. Different, shorter notice rules apply during probation. ## The exit sequence 1. **Get the resignation in writing** and confirm the last working day, counted from the date notice was given. 2. **Agree the handover:** work in progress, files, accounts, and who covers what. 3. **Reconcile attendance and leave:** final attendance, unused annual leave, and any unpaid leave taken (which affects service length for gratuity). 4. **Calculate the final settlement** (below) and get the employee's sign-off on the figures. 5. **Pay within 14 days** of the contract ending, and make sure the ex-employee is removed from future payroll and WPS runs. 6. **Cancel the work permit and residence visa,** and issue an experience or end-of-service certificate. 7. **Recover company property,** disable accounts, and close out their record. One thing not to do: hold on to an employee's passport or personal documents. Employers must not retain them. ## What goes into the final settlement - **Salary up to the last working day**, pro-rated for a part month. - **Gratuity**, if they've completed at least one year of continuous service. It's calculated on basic salary, and days of unpaid leave don't count towards service. An employee who resigns is entitled to gratuity on the same basis as anyone else. (See [how gratuity is calculated](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-gratuity-calculation-explained).) - **Unused annual leave**, paid out on the basis of basic salary. (See [annual leave entitlement](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-annual-leave-entitlement).) - **Payment in lieu of notice**, if that applies under the contract and the circumstances. - **Other contractual dues:** bonuses, commissions, and expense reimbursements still owed. - **Less lawful deductions:** outstanding loans or advances, or other amounts the employee owes that can lawfully be recovered. Document every deduction. ## A worked example These figures are illustrative, using a 30-day month. Your contract or policy should specify the method: - Final month: last day is the 18th, total pay AED 12,000 (12,000 ÷ 30 × 18) — AED 7,200 - Unused leave: 12 days × (AED 9,000 basic ÷ 30 = AED 300) — AED 3,600 - Subtotal, before gratuity and any deductions — AED 10,800 Gratuity is then added on top, calculated as in [our gratuity guide](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-gratuity-calculation-explained). ## The deadline that matters All amounts owed — final salary, leave payout, and gratuity — must be paid within 14 days of the contract ending. Late payment is exactly the kind of thing employees take to MOHRE, so build the settlement into the notice period rather than starting it on the last day. ## Common mistakes - Ambiguity over the last working day — counted from when, exactly? - Leave balances nobody can substantiate because the records were scattered. - Deductions taken from the settlement without documentation or a lawful basis. - Applying an old gratuity reduction for resignations, which no longer applies under the current law. - Leaving the ex-employee on the payroll or WPS list. - Delaying the permit cancellation. This guide covers standard resignations and end-of-contract exits. Dismissal for cause, arbitrary dismissal, and other early terminations have their own rules — take legal advice before acting on those. This is a general guide to resignation and final settlement under UAE labour law (Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021) for HR teams doing their own planning — not legal advice for a specific case. Notice, payment, and cancellation rules can change and contracts can add terms; confirm current requirements with MOHRE or a UAE labour lawyer before relying on this page. --- # UAE Sick Leave Rules Explained: How Sick Pay Actually Works > How much paid sick leave UAE employees get, the 15/30/45-day pay tiers, and when an employer can require a medical certificate. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-sick-leave-rules Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). September 2026 · 4 min read Sick leave in the UAE isn't a flat "X paid days" like annual leave — the pay rate steps down the longer someone is out. Here's the actual structure. ## The short answer Once an employee has completed probation, they're entitled to up to **90 days of sick leave per year** (they don't need to be consecutive), with pay split into three tiers: - First 15 days — Full pay - Next 30 days — Half pay - Remaining 45 days — Unpaid So a single continuous illness lasting the full 90 days costs the employer 15 days at full pay plus 15 days at half pay (half of the next 30) — the last 45 days are unpaid, but the job itself is still protected during that time. ## A medical certificate is required Sick pay is conditional on the employee providing a medical certificate from a licensed doctor or medical authority confirming they're unfit to work. Without one, an absence is just an unauthorized absence, not sick leave. ## Probation is the catch most people miss An employee isn't entitled to *paid* sick leave during their probation period. An employer can still choose to grant unpaid sick leave if a medical certificate supports it, but the paid-tier structure above only kicks in once probation is complete. ## What this means for payroll, practically Because the pay rate changes partway through an absence, sick leave is one of the few things that genuinely needs day-by-day tracking rather than a simple "leave taken" checkbox — the 16th day of the same illness is paid differently than the 1st. Getting this wrong either underpays someone owed full pay, or overpays past the point the law requires it. This is a general explanation of UAE sick leave entitlement under the UAE Labour Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021) for HR teams doing their own planning — not legal advice for a specific case. Confirm anything unusual (recurring vs. single illness, disputed medical certificates) with a UAE labour lawyer before acting on it. --- # UAE Unemployment Insurance (ILOE) Explained for Employers > What the UAE's mandatory Involuntary Loss of Employment (ILOE) insurance scheme means for employers: who must enrol, the premium tiers, fines for gaps, and HR's role versus the employee's. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-unemployment-insurance-iloe-explained Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). October 2026 · 5 min read ILOE is an employee's own insurance policy, not a payroll cost — but a lapsed subscription on your team shows up as HR's problem the moment someone's work permit renewal gets blocked. ## The short answer > Involuntary Loss of Employment (ILOE) insurance is mandatory for almost every private-sector and federal-government employee in the UAE. The employee pays a small monthly premium and chooses the insurer; HR's job is making sure new hires know to subscribe and that nobody's coverage quietly lapses, since a gap blocks their next work permit renewal. ## What ILOE actually is ILOE pays eligible employees a temporary monthly benefit if they lose their job involuntarily — redundancy or termination, not resignation or dismissal for cause — while they look for new work. It's been mandatory since 1 January 2023 and sits alongside, not instead of, end-of-service gratuity. (See [how gratuity is calculated](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-gratuity-calculation-explained).) ## Who has to subscribe Virtually every employee working under a UAE employment contract and work permit in the private sector or federal government, UAE nationals and expatriates alike. A small set of categories are generally excluded — domestic workers and investors/business owners working in their own companies among them — so confirm the current exclusion list for anyone whose status is unusual. ## Premiums and what the benefit pays out The scheme runs on two salary-based tiers, priced as a cheap monthly add-on the employee buys directly from an approved insurer: - **Category A** — basic salary AED 16,000 or below: roughly AED 5/month plus VAT, with a maximum monthly benefit around AED 10,000. - **Category B** — basic salary above AED 16,000: roughly AED 10/month plus VAT, with a maximum monthly benefit around AED 20,000. The benefit itself is calculated as a percentage of the employee's average basic salary over the preceding months, capped at the tier's maximum, and is paid for a limited number of months while the person is unemployed and actively seeking work — confirm the current percentage, duration, and waiting period directly with the scheme, since these parameters are the ones most likely to be refined over time. ## Deadlines and fines - **New employees** generally need to subscribe within a set window after their work permit is issued — commonly cited as four months, but confirm the current window. - **Missing the deadline** triggers a flat fine, with an additional smaller monthly fine for each month the gap continues. - **Work permit renewal is where it bites.** Outstanding ILOE fines or an active gap in coverage can hold up a labour card or residence permit renewal until it's cleared — so a subscription nobody checked on in year one becomes a renewal-day problem in year two or three. ## What HR actually needs to do 1. Tell every new hire about ILOE during onboarding and point them to the official subscription channel — it takes minutes to do themselves. (See [our onboarding checklist](https://officehr.ae/blog/uae-employee-onboarding-checklist).) 2. Note the subscription deadline against their start date, the same way you'd track a visa or insurance renewal. 3. Before any work permit renewal, check the employee's ILOE status is current, not just their visa and Emirates ID. 4. If someone's employment ends involuntarily, let them know they may be eligible to claim — it's their claim to make, but a departing employee who doesn't know the scheme exists can't use it. The subscription, payment, and claims all happen through the employee's own account with the ILOE system or their chosen insurer — it isn't something run through company payroll, which is exactly why it's easy for HR to lose track of. This is a general explanation of the UAE's ILOE unemployment insurance scheme for HR teams doing their own planning — not legal or insurance advice. Premium tiers, benefit percentages, deadlines, exclusions, and fines are set by the scheme and the relevant UAE authorities and can change; confirm current figures before relying on them. --- # WPS Explained: How the UAE Wage Protection System Actually Works > What the UAE Wage Protection System (WPS) actually is, why it's mandatory, and how the salary file employers submit to banks actually works. Source: https://officehr.ae/blog/wps-explained-uae-wage-protection-system Published by OfficeHR (https://officehr.ae). September 2026 · 5 min read Every UAE private-sector employer has to run payroll through WPS — but "the salary file" is often the part small businesses understand least, because it happens behind the scenes at the bank, not something staff ever see directly. ## The short answer > WPS is a mandatory electronic salary transfer system — you don't pay employees directly, you submit a structured salary file through an approved bank or exchange house, and that's what actually moves the money and proves it happened. It exists to protect workers: it gives the relevant labour authority visibility into whether employees are actually being paid, on time, and in full — closing the gap that existed when wages could be paid in cash with no verifiable record. ## What actually happens each pay run 1. Payroll is calculated for the period — basic salary, allowances, deductions, net pay per employee. 2. That data gets turned into a **Salary Information File (SIF)** — a structured file with one line per employee, their labour card and bank details, and their net pay. 3. The file is submitted through the company's **WPS agent** — a bank, exchange house, or approved financial institution registered to handle WPS transfers, not sent to employees directly. 4. The agent processes the disbursement and reports back, which is what creates the compliance record the authority sees. ## Who needs to be WPS-registered WPS applies to private-sector employers across the UAE, regardless of company size — a 12-person company has the same obligation as a 500-person one. What differs by company is which bank or exchange house they use as their WPS agent, and how manually or automatically the salary file gets generated each month. ## Where this actually goes wrong for small businesses The SIF file format is unforgiving — a mismatched IBAN, a missing labour card number, or an employee paid in a currency the file doesn't expect will cause a rejection or a flagged discrepancy, and that's exactly the kind of error that's invisible until the bank kicks it back. The more this file gets built by hand in a spreadsheet each month, the more likely a small transcription error breaks a pay run right when it matters. This is a general explanation of how UAE WPS works for HR teams doing their own planning — not a substitute for your bank or exchange house's own WPS onboarding documentation, and not legal advice. Specific requirements, deadlines, and any penalties for non-compliance are set by the relevant UAE labour authority and can change — confirm current specifics directly with your WPS agent or MOHRE rather than relying on this page for exact figures.