The UAE requires a locally compliant contract for every hire, a 48-hour standard work week, and 30 days of paid annual leave. An Employer of Record meets all of that without you registering your own local entity — Remote& runs it for a flat $400 per employee per month.
Companies hire in the UAE for the same handful of reasons: a deep pool of internationally minded talent, English as the working language of business, a time zone that bridges Europe and Asia, and no personal income tax on salaries. None of that changes one fact — a worker based in the UAE needs a registered local employment contract. You either build the entity that can issue one, or you use a partner that already has.
This page walks through what UAE employment law actually requires, the real choice between an Employer of Record and your own entity, where contractors fit, and what Remote& charges.
Last updated July 31, 2026. Jump to: Why hire in the UAE · Employment basics · EOR vs. a local entity · Contractors and risk · What Remote& costs · FAQ
Why companies hire in the UAE
The appeal is straightforward. The UAE draws talent from across the world, so a single hire often comes with language and market experience you cannot easily find at home. Business runs in English. The clock overlaps enough of the working day in both Europe and Asia to make handoffs practical. And UAE law does not levy personal income tax on salaries, which simplifies pay conversations with candidates.
What it does not simplify is the paperwork. You cannot pay a UAE-based worker from a foreign payroll and call it done — local law expects a registered contract, and the worker needs residency status tied to a local employer. Our UAE employment guide covers the fuller picture; this page focuses on the decision in front of you: how to get a compliant hire onto payroll, and what that costs.
Employment basics in the UAE, at a glance
Before you draft an offer, here is what UAE employment law sets as the floor (checked July 2026).
| Employment fact | What the law requires |
|---|---|
| Standard working week | 48 hours — 8 hours a day, 6 days a week. Hours drop by 2 a day during Ramadan. |
| Annual leave | 30 calendar days a year. |
| Sick leave | Up to 90 days a year, once probation ends. |
| Maternity leave | 60 days. |
| Paternity leave | 5 working days. |
| Probation notice | 14 days. |
| Notice after probation | 30 to 90 days, set by the contract. |
| Pay frequency | Monthly, by the last working day of the month. |
| End-of-service gratuity | Statutory after 1 year of service — roughly 3 weeks of basic salary per year, rising to about 1 month per year after 5 years. |
| Unfair dismissal exposure | Compensation can reach up to 3 months’ wages. |
This table condenses the essentials. See our UAE employment guide for the full walkthrough, including how termination protections work in practice.
Get any one of these wrong and the exposure is real — an unfair-dismissal claim, or a rejected application when you try to bring on your next hire. That compliance load is exactly what an Employer of Record takes off your desk.
EOR vs. opening a local entity in the UAE
There is more than one way to put a worker on payroll in the UAE, and not every option is legally sound.
- Running payroll from your home-country entity. Not viable. A worker based in the UAE needs a locally registered contract and residency status — a foreign payroll cannot supply either.
- Engaging the person as an independent contractor. Legally thin ground for full-time work. More on this below.
- Registering your own local entity. More than one entity structure is available in the UAE, each with its own paperwork, cost, and setup time, plus ongoing filings with local authorities once it is running.
- Using an Employer of Record. An EOR already holds a registered local entity and employs the worker on your behalf, under a compliant contract, from day one.
For a single hire, or a first test of the UAE market, opening an entity rarely pays for itself. Setting one up commonly takes weeks to months before you can even extend an offer. An EOR compresses that to days, because the entity already exists.
| Employer of Record | Your own entity | |
|---|---|---|
| Speed to first hire | Days, once terms are agreed. | Weeks to months, before you hire anyone. |
| Upfront cost | None — a per-employee monthly fee. | Registration, licensing, and setup costs, paid before any hire. |
| Ongoing compliance | Carried by the EOR. | Carried by you — filings with local authorities, on your own calendar. |
| Best fit | A first hire, a small team, or a market you are still testing. | A large, permanent team with real local operations. |
The two paths are not exclusive over time. Many companies start on an EOR to prove the market, then register their own entity once headcount justifies the fixed cost. Our EOR vs. entity guide walks through that crossover point in general terms.
What about contractors?
Misclassifying an employee as an independent contractor in the UAE carries real consequences: fines, a halt on new work-permit applications, and claims for back pay the worker was owed all along. Courts can reclassify the relationship after the fact and award the full statutory entitlements retroactively.
The test that matters is exclusivity, not the label on the contract. A worker who serves one company full time, on that company’s schedule, reads as an employee under UAE law — whatever the paperwork calls them. Genuine, project-based contracting is a narrower case, and it still benefits from a compliant structure. Our contractor management guide covers how to keep that engagement clean.
If the role is effectively a full-time job in disguise, the safer and cheaper path is to hire the person as an employee through an EOR, not to stretch a contractor agreement to cover it.
What Remote& costs to hire in the UAE
Remote& employs your UAE hire through our own local entity, for a flat $400 per employee per month — no matter the salary, no tiers to decode. Published EOR pricing across the market runs $199 to $699 or more per employee per month (checked July 2026); our flat fee sits inside that range with no surprise at renewal.
- A locally compliant employment contract, drafted and kept current with UAE labor law.
- Work permit and residency sponsorship for your hire.
- Payroll run through the country’s mandated wage payment system, on the local monthly cycle.
- Statutory leave and end-of-service gratuity accrual, calculated for you.
- Local HR support, so questions about UAE employment law do not sit on your desk.
You keep directing the work. We carry the local employer role.
Hiring somewhere else too? See our guides to Employer of Record in Slovakia and Employer of Record in Tunisia for the same breakdown in those countries.
Frequently asked questions
What is an Employer of Record in the UAE?
An Employer of Record (EOR) is a company that already holds a registered local entity in the UAE and employs your worker on your behalf, under a compliant local contract. You direct the day-to-day work; the EOR runs payroll, holds the contract, and manages the local compliance that comes with it. It lets you hire in the UAE without registering your own entity first.
How much does it cost to hire an employee in the UAE through an EOR?
Remote& charges a flat $400 per employee per month for UAE hires, regardless of salary. Published EOR pricing across the market runs from $199 to $699 or more per employee per month (checked July 2026). The platform fee sits on top of the employee’s gross salary and statutory costs such as end-of-service gratuity accrual.
Can I hire contractors in the UAE instead of employees?
You can, but only for genuine, project-based work. UAE law does not treat an exclusive, full-time working relationship as real contracting, whatever the agreement calls it — a worker in that position can be reclassified as an employee, with fines and back-pay exposure for the company. If the role is effectively a full-time job, hire the person as an employee through an EOR instead.
How long does it take to hire someone in the UAE with an EOR?
Once terms are agreed, an EOR can typically issue a compliant local contract and start the work-permit process within days, because it already holds a registered local entity. Opening your own entity first, by comparison, commonly takes weeks to months before you can extend an offer at all.
What is end-of-service gratuity in the UAE?
It is a statutory payment employees earn after at least one year of continuous service, worth roughly three weeks of basic salary for each year worked, rising to about one month per year after five years of service. Employers must accrue and pay it when the employment ends — Remote& calculates and manages this as part of running your UAE payroll.
Is there personal income tax in the UAE?
No. The UAE does not levy personal income tax on salaries, so an employee’s take-home pay is not reduced by income-tax withholding the way it is in many other countries. Employer costs still include the statutory items above — leave, gratuity, and a compliant contract — even without an income-tax obligation.
EOR vs. opening my own entity in the UAE — which is faster?
An EOR is faster in nearly every case, because it already holds a registered local entity and can issue a compliant contract within days. Opening your own entity means registering, licensing, and setting up payroll before you hire anyone — a process that commonly runs weeks to months. An entity earns its keep once headcount grows large enough to outweigh that time up front.
Do employees hired through Remote& in the UAE get full statutory rights?
Yes. Employees hired through Remote& in the UAE receive a locally compliant contract, sponsored work and residency status, statutory leave — including annual, sick, maternity, and paternity leave — and end-of-service gratuity, the same entitlements a direct local hire would receive. Salaries are paid monthly through the country’s mandated wage payment system.
Hire in the UAE without opening an entity
Remote& employs your UAE team through our own local entity, for a flat $400 per employee per month — no tiers, no surprise at renewal. You keep directing the work; we carry the contract, the compliance, and the payroll.