Employee Benefits

Q: Under a limited contract

• 1-5 years of service: Full gratuity pay based on 21 days' salary for each year of work. • 5+ years’ service: Full gratuity of 30 days' salary for each year of work following the first five years.

Q: Under an unlimited contract

• 1-5 years of service: 21 calendar days' basic salary for each year of the first five years of work. • 5+ years’ service: 30 calendar days' basic salary for each additional year, provided the entire compensation does not exceed two years' pay.

Q: If the employee resigns

• 1-3 years of service: One-third (1/3) of 21 days' basic salary as gratuity pay. • 3-5 years of service: Two-thirds (2/3) of 21 days' basic salary as gratuity pay. • 5+ years’ service: Full 21 days' basic salary as gratuity pay.

Transportation allowance
Many employers provide employees with travel allowances as part of their salary package, as an additional incentive. The value of these allowances can range anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars per month.
Housing allowance
Like transportation, housing allowances are another popular incentive regularly offered to new employees as a way of reducing their overall living costs. These allowances are provided as part of an employees’ monthly salary package and are typically allocated toward rent or mortgage fees. Some employers also provide new employees with up to three months’ accommodation from their date of joining to help them settle into the city.
School fees subsidies
Many larger companies operating in Dubai provide senior management recruits with private education subsidies for their children relocating to the city from abroad. With annual fees for Dubai’s best private schools often costing thousands of dollars per child, this is a highly valued incentive among experienced professionals with families in tow.
Pension scheme
Expat employees working in Dubai’s government and public sector can join a new savings pension plan starting from July 1,2022. This system is in addition to the existing gratuity scheme, under which employees receive a lump sum when they leave their job. Gratuity payments are covered by the UAE Labour Law and the sum depends on an employee’s length of service and their basic salary.
Source: The National

Leave entitlement
An employee is entitled to paid annual, sick and maternity leave.

Mandatory annual leave entitlements in Dubai rank among the most generous of any expat destination in the MENA region. After a period of six months working in Dubai, an employee is legally entitled to claim two calendar days for each month worked, while after 12 months, they are entitled to a base rate of 30 calendar days per annum.

In precincts such as Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), employees are entitled to 20 calendar days per year after just three months. Annual leave does not include public holidays declared by the UAE government.

According to research conducted by Tiger Recruitment, approximately 50 percent of UAE employers also provide expat employees a complimentary return flight home to their home country each year.

Maternity leave in the UAE is also among the most generous of any Gulf nation. Female employees are entitled to maternity leave of 60 days, of which 45 days is fully paid leave and 15 days is half-paid leave. In addition to basic maternity leave, new mothers can take an additional 45 days’ leave without pay if they are unable to resume work immediately due to illness. If their baby is sick or suffers from a disability, they are entitled to an additional 30 days of fully paid leave, which can be extended. New fathers working in the private sector are entitled to paid parental leave of five working days from the birth of their child up to six months. The UAE was the first Arab country to implement this policy. For further details, click here.

As per UAE labour law, full-time employees are entitled to sick leave of up to 90 days per year, following the completion of their probationary period. The 90 days’ sick leave can be continuous or intermittent, and the salary is paid as follows:

• full pay for the first 15 days

• half pay for the next 30 days

• no pay for the rest 45 days