UAE Employment Contract Types 2026: Fixed-Term Contracts, the Six Work Models and What Must Be in Your Contract

In short: Since Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 took effect on 2 February 2022, every onshore private-sector employment contract in the UAE is fixed-term, the old “limited” contract. Unlimited contracts had to be converted, and MOHRE moved the deadline from 2 February 2023 to 31 December 2023 (Ministerial Resolution No. 27 of 2023). There is no maximum term: Federal Decree-Law No. 14 of 2022 removed the three-year cap, and renewals count as continuous service. What differs is the work model: full-time, part-time, temporary or flexible (Article 7), plus remote work and job sharing (Article 5 of Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022), each on its own MOHRE contract template.

UAE employment contract types, under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, are a single fixed-term contract used across six work models: full-time, part-time, temporary, flexible, remote and job sharing. The old choice between a limited contract and an unlimited contract ended when the law came into force on 2 February 2022, and all unlimited contracts had to be converted by 31 December 2023. Since an amendment in 2022 there is no maximum term: the employer and worker agree the length, renew it as often as they like, and an employment contract that simply runs on is treated as extended on the same terms. What really differs between one employment contract and another now is the work model, the hours and the pay structure.

This guide is written from the text of the law and its Executive Regulation on uaelegislation.gov.ae, MOHRE’s published texts and announcements and the federal government portal u.ae, checked on 23 September 2026 and re-checked on 10 October 2026 against MOHRE’s consolidated English text of the law and its Executive Regulation. It covers every work model, the end of the unlimited contract, what must be in an employment contract, the MOHRE template and languages, the offer letter, renewal and expiry, non-compete clauses, working for more than one employer, free zones, DIFC and ADGM, and contracts for UAE nationals. Probation, notice, leave and gratuity each have their own guide; here they get one line and a link.

UAE employment contract types at a glance

Every private-sector contract onshore is fixed-term. This table shows how the work models and special cases differ, and where each rule is written.

UAE employment contract types: how MIRDXB PRO helps

People rarely contact us about contract law in the abstract. They contact us because an offer is on the table and the MOHRE contract looks different, because an employer wants to move them to part-time, because an employment contract expired two years ago and nobody renewed it, or because a new job is waiting and the old employer is pointing at a non-compete clause. We are a PRO and visa services firm in Al Barsha 1, Dubai, and we deal with MOHRE contracts every working day.

When the contract needs to be typed, signed and approved on the MOHRE system, the direct route is our MOHRE contract preparation and approval service. For companies hiring or restructuring staff, contracts sit inside our wider PRO services in Dubai, together with the work permit and visa.

What we do

• Check a contract before you sign. We compare the offer letter with the MOHRE contract line by line: basic salary, allowances, work model, term, probation, notice, leave and any non-compete, and send you a written list of differences.
• Explain which work model fits. Part-time and flexible, or remote and full-time, are often confused. We tell you which model matches the real arrangement and what that changes for leave and gratuity.
• Prepare and submit contracts for employers: new contracts, amendments, renewals and changes of work model, through the MOHRE system and Tasheel, with the work permit steps that go with them.
• Sort out old paperwork: contracts that expired and ran on, salary revisions never recorded, pre-2022 unlimited contracts that may not have been converted properly.
• Read a non-compete clause against Article 10 and Article 12 of the Executive Regulation before you resign or accept a new offer, and tell you when a lawyer is the better next step.

How it works

1. WhatsApp us first with the offer letter, the contract or draft, and one line on what worries you.
2. We review the documents and reply with the points that matter, the rule behind each one and what to ask the employer to change.
3. You decide whether to raise the points yourself using our note, or have us handle the MOHRE contract steps for a fee quoted in writing.
4. We finish the file once the employment contract is approved on the MOHRE system and you have your own copy saved somewhere safe.

What it costs

MOHRE and typing-centre charges are passed on at cost, with the receipt. Our own fee is quoted in writing before we start and depends on the job: an employment contract review is a different piece of work from a full hiring file with work permit and visa. You can see how we price on our fees page. If you are an employer budgeting a new hire, the employment visa cost breakdown lists the government charges.

Why residents use us

• We publish our sources: each rule on this page is tied to the article of the law or the official page that sets it.
• We handle MOHRE, GDRFA Dubai and ICP files, so the employment contract, the work permit and the residence visa are dealt with together.
• We tell you when you do not need us. If the contract is fine, we say so.
• Our office is in Al Barsha 1, open by appointment; whatsApp us any time, 24 hours; office open Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 18:00 (Dubai time).

The legal basis for employment contracts in the UAE

Much of what is published about UAE employment contract types still describes the law that was replaced in 2022. These are the instruments that matter on 23 September 2026. The federal legislation portal lists three amendments to the 2021 law; all three are below.

Who the law covers

The Labour Law applies to employers and workers in the private sector. Article 3 leaves out federal and local government employees, the armed forces, police and security services, and domestic workers, each of whom has separate rules (domestic workers come under Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022; see our domestic worker visa page). It also allows free zone establishments to be governed by their own rules where a free zone has its own employment legislation. In practice that means the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM); most other free zones apply the federal law to their contracts.

This guide is practical: which contract and work model you are on and what to check. For the articles themselves read in order, see our labour law chapter on employment contracts and probation.

What is the difference between a limited and an unlimited contract in the UAE?

Under the old Federal Law No. 8 of 1980 there were two UAE employment contract types, and every employment contract was one or the other. A limited contract had an end date and, under that law, could not run longer than four years. An unlimited contract had no end date and continued until one side ended it with notice. The distinction mattered because the old law treated them differently on resignation, termination compensation and end of service gratuity.

Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 abolished the unlimited contract. From 2 February 2022 every new employment contract had to be for a definite period. Article 68 then dealt with the unlimited contracts already in place:

The conversion deadline

One year from 2 February 2022 gave an original deadline of 2 February 2023. MOHRE extended it by Ministerial Resolution No. 27 of 2023, announcing on 30 January 2023: “The new deadline now is 31st December 2023, instead of 2nd February 2023.” That date has passed. There is no longer any unlimited contract UAE employers can offer onshore, and no choice for a worker to make between the two.

Did conversion reset my service?

No. Converting an unlimited contract to a fixed-term one changed the paperwork, not the employment. Article 8(4) adds every extension or renewal to the original period, so someone employed since 2015 whose contract was converted in 2023 has continuous service from 2015. If a settlement is calculated from the conversion date, check it: on a long tenure the difference can be large, because it also decides how many years attract 30 days’ gratuity rather than 21.

Article 68(3) and gratuity for pre-2022 service

Article 68(3) lets the employer calculate gratuity for an indefinite-term contract under the 1980 rules. The official text does not spell out how far that reaches: whether it covers only service before conversion, and whether the old reductions on resignation still bite. We have not found MOHRE guidance that settles it, so we do not guess. If you worked under an unlimited contract before 2022 and your employer applies the old reductions, ask for the calculation in writing and take it to MOHRE on 80084 before signing. Our end of service gratuity guide covers the current formula.

How long can a fixed-term employment contract run in the UAE?

As long as the parties agree. Article 8(3) now says only that the contract is for a specified period, renewable by agreement, and MOHRE’s announcement of 30 January 2023 describes contracts “without specifying a limit for the duration of the contract”. There is no minimum either. In practice most MOHRE contracts are issued for one to three years, often matching the residence visa, but that is custom, not law.

Longer or shorter: what the term actually does

A fixed term is a planning horizon, not a lock-in. Either side can end the employment contract before the end date by giving notice under Article 43, so a five-year contract does not trap anyone for five years. Equally, a long term does not guarantee a job to the end date: the employer can also give notice. What the term does is set the date on which the contract ends by itself (Article 42 lists expiry as one of the ways a contract ends) and the date to review pay and terms.

What are the six work models in a UAE employment contract?

Article 7 of the Decree-Law lists four work models and allows the Executive Regulation to add more. Article 5 of the Executive Regulation adds remote work and job sharing, and lets MOHRE create other models “based on the requirements of the labour market”. Article 10(4) of the Regulation then lists six approved contract templates, one for each model. The contract is always fixed-term; the model describes how the work is done.

Full-time

Article 7(1)(a) defines full-time as “working for one employer for the full daily working hours throughout business days”. It is the default model and the one MOHRE’s standard contract assumes. Normal hours may not exceed 8 a day or 48 a week (Article 17), with a break so that no one works more than five hours in a row without rest (Article 18), and at least one paid rest day a week (Article 21). Overtime is capped at two hours a day and paid at a premium of at least 25% (Article 19).

Part-time contract

Article 7(1)(b): “working for one or multiple employers for a specified number of working hours or days”. The part-time contract UAE employers issue must state the hours or days, because leave and gratuity are worked out from them. The worker may hold part-time contracts with more than one employer, each with its own permit. Annual leave is pro-rated by hours under Article 18 of the Executive Regulation, with a minimum of five working days a year, and gratuity is the full-time figure multiplied by contracted hours divided by full-time hours (Executive Regulation Article 30(1)).

Temporary

Article 7(1)(c): “work of which nature requires a specific period of time, or which focuses on a specific job and ends by the completion thereof”. Think of a project, a season or an event. The contract ends when the period or the job ends. Executive Regulation Article 30(2) says the end of service benefit “shall not apply in the case of temporary employment with a duration of less than one year” (MOHRE’s English text). A temporary contract that runs for a year or more is not caught by that clause; confirm how the benefit is calculated with MOHRE. Do not use the temporary model for a role that is really permanent: the contract should describe what actually happens.

Flexible

Article 7(1)(d): “work of which hours or working days change according to the volume of work and the economic and operational variables of the Employer.” The worker may work “for times that change according to work conditions and requirements”. The law says little about how pay, leave and gratuity work for flexible contracts, so the employment contract itself has to do the work: how hours are scheduled, the minimum and maximum, how they are recorded and how pay is calculated.

Remote

Executive Regulation Article 5(1)(a): work “performed wholly or partially outside the workplace and the connection between the worker and the employer shall be electronic instead of the physical presence, whether the work was part-time or full-time.” Remote is therefore a way of working that sits on top of full-time or part-time hours, not a reduced arrangement. A remote full-time worker has full-time rights.

Job sharing

Executive Regulation Article 5(1)(b): “tasks and duties are shared between more than one worker to perform the task agreed upon”, which “shall reflect on the wage due to each of them in order to be proportionate”. Workers who share a job “shall be treated in accordance with the controls of part-time jobs”, so leave and gratuity follow the part-time rules.

What about a four-day week, condensed hours, hybrid or freelance?

None of these is a separate work model in the Decree-Law or the Executive Regulation, and MOHRE has not announced one as of September 2026. They fit inside the existing models:

• Condensed or compressed hours (for example 48 hours over fewer, longer days) are a full-time arrangement, and they must respect the daily and weekly limits in Article 17, the break rule in Article 18 and the overtime cap in Article 19. The daily limit of 8 normal hours means a compressed week usually involves overtime pay unless weekly hours drop.
• Hybrid work is the remote model applied to part of the week: “wholly or partially outside the workplace”.
• Freelance work is not employment. A freelance permit holder is not the employer’s worker and has no employment contract under the Labour Law. See our freelance permit page and the guide to work permit types.

Matching the model to the reality

The model recorded should describe what actually happens. Where it does not, the problem appears later, usually when leave or gratuity has to be calculated.

The part-time and flexible distinction matters most. Part-time gratuity divides contracted annual hours by full-time annual hours. A genuinely flexible arrangement has no fixed contracted hours, so recording it as part-time creates a formula nobody can run at the end.

Part-time contract and working for more than one employer

The 1980 law had no real place for a second job. The current framework does: Article 7(1)(b) defines part-time work as working “for one or multiple employers”, and the part-time work permit in Article 6(1)(f) of the Executive Regulation says the worker “may work for more than one employer after obtaining a permit to do so from the Ministry” (MOHRE’s English text). So a second job is lawful when it is on the right permit and contract, and unlawful when it is not.

The permit types and their conditions belong to MOHRE’s permit rules rather than the contract, and they change more often. Article 6(1) of the Executive Regulation lists 12 types of work permit, lettered (a) to (l), from the permit to recruit a worker from abroad to the freelance permit, and Article 6(2) lets the Minister create new types by resolution; a count above 12 includes types added outside that list. Our guide to UAE work permit types sets out which permit fits which situation, including the temporary permit a worker can get while a labour case is running.

What a good part-time contract states

• Contracted hours per week and per year. Without them, the pro-rating formulas for leave and gratuity cannot be run.
• The full-time comparison: how many hours a full-time employee at the same establishment works. The gratuity formula needs both figures.
• Which days and times, or how they are agreed, so that a clash with another employer can be avoided.
• The basic wage as a separate figure, and how it relates to the hours.
• Notice, leave and termination terms, which apply to part-time contracts just as to full-time ones.

What must be in a UAE employment contract

Article 8(1) of the law requires the employer to make a written employment contract in two copies, one for the employer and one for the worker, on the forms set by the Executive Regulation. Article 10(1) of the Regulation lists what the employment contract must contain. The table sets out each item and why it matters later.

Article 10(2) allows the parties to add clauses of their own, provided they comply with the law and its regulations: a non-compete, confidentiality, a bonus scheme, a repatriation ticket, a relocation allowance, and so on. Article 8(2) of the law also protects a worker whose paperwork is incomplete: the worker “may establish the employment contract, the amount of the wage and any of the rights he is entitled to … by all means of evidence”. Emails, payslips, bank transfers and WPS records can all prove terms that the written contract leaves out.

Basic salary and allowances: the split that decides your money

The contract states a basic wage and allowances separately, and the split matters more than the total. End of service gratuity and the cash value of unused leave are calculated on the basic wage. Two people each on AED 20,000 a month, one with a basic of AED 8,000 and the other AED 14,000, earn gratuity of AED 22,400 and AED 39,200 after four years: a gap of AED 16,800 with identical monthly pay. The split is easy to negotiate at offer stage and almost impossible to change afterwards. The gratuity guide shows the working.

The MOHRE standard contract, templates and languages

Onshore, you do not draft an employment contract from scratch. Article 8(6) of the law lets the Executive Regulation set “the forms of employment contracts according to the approved skill levels”, and Article 10(4) of the Regulation lists the approved templates: full-time, part-time, temporary, flexible, remote and employment sharing contracts, plus any other template the Minister approves by resolution. MOHRE generates the employment contract from the data the employer enters when it applies for the work permit, and the worker signs it on the MOHRE system.

Which language?

The u.ae portal says job offers, employment contracts and annexes are usually provided in Arabic and English, and that since 2016 MOHRE has added a third language at the worker’s request, chosen from nine: Bengali, Chinese, Dari, Hindi, Malayalam, Nepalese, Sinhalese, Tamil and Urdu. The Executive Regulation itself does not state which version prevails if they differ, and MOHRE does not say either. The general practice in UAE courts is to work from the Arabic text, so if there is a difference that matters to you, raise it before you sign rather than after. Contracts drafted by the employer outside the MOHRE template (a longer “company contract” or offer letter in English only) sit alongside the MOHRE contract; where they conflict, the terms more favourable to the worker are the safer reading under Article 65(3), but a dispute will turn on the facts.

Which counts: the offer letter or the MOHRE employment contract?

The registered MOHRE contract governs, and it is built from the offer. The onshore hiring sequence is fixed: job offer, then work permit approval, then the signed contract, then the employment visa. The job offer is itself a MOHRE document. The u.ae portal says it sets out the rights and obligations of both parties and the terms of employment, in Arabic, English and a third language the worker understands, with an annex outlining the Labour Law. The signed offer goes with the work permit application; once both sides sign it after the worker arrives, it is registered with MOHRE as the binding employment contract, which should be submitted within 14 days of arrival or of the change of status.

Read the registered contract, not only the offer

People negotiate the offer carefully, then sign the MOHRE contract in a hurry at a service centre or on a phone. The figure to check above all is the basic salary. A package restructured between offer and contract, with the same total but a smaller basic, costs nothing each month and a great deal at the end. Check the job title too: it must match the licensed activity, and it is the title that appears on your work permit and labour card.

Recruitment costs are the employer’s

Article 6 prohibits the employer from charging the worker “the fees and costs of recruitment and employment or collecting them from him, whether directly or indirectly.” Visa, work permit, medical and Emirates ID costs for your own employment are the employer’s. A clause making you repay them, or a deduction later on, is a warning sign worth querying before you sign.

Signing and approving the contract at MOHRE

This is the part people often call contract “attestation”. The process runs on the MOHRE app, website and Tasheel or Tawjeeh centres, and the employer drives it. In outline:

1. The employer submits the job offer with the contract terms, and the worker accepts it.
2. The work permit application is made using the same data (for a worker inside the UAE this may be a transfer or new permit; from abroad, an entry permit follows).
3. MOHRE generates the contract on the approved template, and the worker signs it electronically or at a service centre.
4. The contract is approved and registered with the work permit, and the labour card is issued. The worker should receive and keep a copy.

We keep the procedure short here on purpose: the step-by-step, documents and service channels are on our MOHRE contract service page, the card itself is covered in the labour card guide, and the full hiring route is on our employment visa page. A company must have an active MOHRE labour file before any of this can start.

Changing an employment contract: amendments, renewals and a new work model

Contracts change with promotions, pay reviews, restructures and new working patterns. The rule underneath is simple: an employment contract is an agreement, and neither side can rewrite it alone. The u.ae portal sets three conditions for amending any clause: both parties agree, the worker’s rights are not undermined, and MOHRE approves the amendment.

How the change is recorded

MOHRE records changes through its Modification of Work Permits / Employment Contracts service. The establishment applies online, on the MOHRE app or at a service centre, and the main document is the amended contract signed by both the employer and the employee. MOHRE lists a federal fee of AED 50 (business centre commission capped at AED 72, before tax and collection charges) and 2 working days. A renewal on unchanged terms goes through the work permit renewal instead. A salary change the worker has not signed is not a valid amendment.

A salary cut is not only a change to future pay

Gratuity is calculated on the basic wage at the end of service. So a reduction does not just lower what you earn from now on; it lowers the value of every year already worked. With eight years of service, accepting a cut from AED 16,000 to AED 12,000 basic reduces the accrued gratuity by AED 26,000 (195 days at AED 133.33 a day less), on top of the monthly loss. That is not always a reason to refuse, since the alternative may be worse, but it is a reason to know the number before you agree.

Change of work model: the settlement step

Article 10(3) of the Executive Regulation is easy to overlook. Moving from one work model to another requires “settlement of all dues arising from the first contract”. In practice that means the full-time period should be closed off properly (leave balance, and the gratuity position for the service so far) before the part-time contract starts, or the parties should agree in writing how it is carried forward. Ask for that statement before you sign the new model.

When the employment contract expires: renewal, running on and ending

Because every contract has an end date, expiry is now a routine event. What happens depends on what the parties do.

The contract that simply runs on

Article 8(5) protects both sides when paperwork lapses. If the parties “continue to implement the contract after the expiry of its original term … without express agreement”, the original contract is “impliedly extended with the same conditions stated therein.” Two consequences follow. For the worker, service does not reset: years worked after the old end date count in full. For the employer, letting an employment contract lapse does not create a fresh start; it continues the old terms, including a salary it may have meant to renegotiate.

The work permit is a separate matter. A contract can be extended by conduct, but the permit and residence visa still have expiry dates, and working on an expired permit is a problem for the employer. Renew the permit and the visa on time even when the contract terms stay the same.

Ending the contract early

Either party may end a fixed-term contract “for any legitimate reason” with written notice of at least 30 and at most 90 days (Article 43). The worker may leave without notice, keeping their rights, if the employer is in serious breach and has not remedied it after the worker notified MOHRE 14 working days in advance (Article 45). The employer may dismiss without notice only on the grounds in Article 44, after a written investigation. Our notice period guide covers each route, and the employment visa cancellation guide covers the paperwork at the end.

Non-compete clauses in UAE employment contracts

Article 10 of the Decree-Law allows a non-compete clause, and Article 12 of the Executive Regulation sets the controls. The clause is only allowed where “the work assigned to the Worker allows him to know the Employer’s clients or access his work secrets”. It must be “specific in terms of time, place and kind of work to the extent necessary to protect the legitimate business interests”, and the restriction “shall not exceed two years as of the expiry date of the contract.”

How to read a clause you are asked to sign

1. How long? Anything beyond two years from the end of the contract goes further than the law allows.
2. Where? The place must be defined. A clause with no geography, or “anywhere in the GCC” for a local sales role, is hard to justify as necessary.
3. What work? The type of work must be specified. “Any capacity for any competitor” is broader than a defined restriction.
4. Does the job justify it? The law ties the clause to access to clients or business secrets. A role with neither is a weak basis.

A clause that fails these tests is not automatically void: that is for a court on the facts. But knowing the framework tells you when to ask for it to be narrowed, which is far easier at offer stage than after you resign.

Probation, notice, leave and gratuity: where each is covered

These four sit inside every employment contract, and each has its own detailed guide. Here is the one-line version.

On wages, MOHRE Resolution No. 340 of 2026, reported to have taken effect on 1 June 2026 in place of Resolution 598 of 2022, sets the wage due date and the escalation steps for late payment. We have not been able to read the official text, so we describe it as reported and do not repeat it here; our guides to WPS and salary not paid explain what has been published.

Free zone, DIFC and ADGM employment contracts

A free zone company employs its staff through the free zone authority rather than through MOHRE directly, and the employment contract is usually on the free zone’s own template. That does not mean different law. Most free zones in Dubai and the other emirates (JAFZA, DMCC, DAFZA, Dubai South, SAIF Zone, RAKEZ and others) apply the federal Labour Law to employment, so the fixed-term rule, the six work models and the Article 10 non-compete limits apply in the same way. Check your own free zone’s employment rules and your contract, because the paperwork route differs even where the law does not. Our free zone vs mainland guide explains the differences in the visa route.

Two financial free zones are different, because they have their own employment legislation:

Employment contracts for UAE nationals

An Emirati in the private sector signs the same kind of fixed-term employment contract on the same MOHRE templates. What changes is the layer of Emiratisation rules around it.

• Minimum wage. MOHRE raised the minimum wage for UAE nationals in the private sector to AED 6,000 a month from 1 January 2026, for new, renewed and amended work permits. Employers had until 30 June 2026 to bring existing Emirati staff up to it. From 1 July 2026, as reported by KPMG from MOHRE’s announcement, Emiratis paid below the minimum do not count towards Emiratisation targets and the employer’s new work permits can be suspended until it complies.
• Pension, not gratuity. Article 51(1) leaves end of service benefits for nationals to the pensions and social security law, so a UAE national’s contract does not carry the 21/30-day gratuity.
• National students. Ministerial Resolution No. 240 of 2023 introduced employment contracts for Emirati students on programmes approved by Nafis. The u.ae portal describes a full-time position paying at least AED 4,000 a month, for one year renewable until graduation; after graduating, the student stays with the same employer for at least the length of the study period. These contracts count towards Emiratisation.
• Emiratisation targets and fines sit outside the contract itself; our Emiratisation rules guide covers them.

Remote work from abroad: what the contract does not settle

Remote work is a recognised model, and an employer can agree that you work from home. Working from another country is a different matter. Your employer’s permission is an employment arrangement; it says nothing about your UAE residence, your position in the other country, or how a long absence affects your visa. A residence visa can become void after more than 180 consecutive days outside the UAE unless an exception applies. That is a question for GDRFA or ICP, not your employer, and our re-entry permit after six months abroad explains the rule.

For employers: getting UAE employment contracts right

Most contract disputes we see are drafting problems that surface years later. These are the recurring ones.

Before you sign: a ten-point checklist

Illustrative scenarios: how the contract type changes the outcome

These are illustrative scenarios, not client records. They are built from situations that come up often, and the figures use the published rules.

1. The restructured package

Offer: AED 22,000 a month, basic AED 12,000. MOHRE contract, signed quickly at a service centre: AED 22,000 a month, basic AED 7,000, with the rest moved into allowances.

The outcome: after five years the gratuity is 105 days of basic. On AED 7,000 that is AED 24,500; on the offered AED 12,000 it would have been AED 42,000. The difference is AED 17,500, with the same monthly pay throughout. The u.ae rule that a clause can be amended only with both parties’ agreement helps only if the difference is raised; once the worker signed the employment contract, that signature was the agreement. The lesson is to read the registered contract before signing.

2. The contract that ran on

A two-year contract expired. Nobody renewed it and work continued for three more years. At the end the employer argued service ran only from a later re-registration.

The outcome: under Article 8(5) the employment contract was impliedly extended on the same terms, and under Article 8(4) the extra period is added to the original. Five years of continuous service, not two or three. The worker’s payslips and WPS transfers proved the continuous employment (Article 8(2) allows any means of evidence).

3. Full-time to part-time after a restructure

An office manager with four years’ full-time service was asked to move to three days a week. The employer sent a new part-time contract for approval with no mention of the four years already worked.

The outcome: Executive Regulation Article 10(3) requires settlement of all dues from the first contract when the work model changes. The worker should ask for a settlement statement covering accrued leave and the gratuity position for the full-time years before approving, or a written agreement that the full-time service carries forward at the full-time rate. Either way the position is settled before the new contract is approved.

4. A non-compete after termination

A sales executive with client access had a two-year non-compete covering “the UAE and GCC, in any capacity”. The employer ended the employment contract with notice during a restructure, then objected when the executive joined a competitor.

The outcome: Executive Regulation Article 12(3) says the clause does not apply where the contract ends by the employer’s will. The clause was also wider than “the extent necessary” in place and type of work, which a court would weigh on the facts. Had the executive resigned instead, the clause would have needed a closer reading, and a buy-out of up to three months’ wage under Article 12(5) was an option.

What circulates online about employment contracts that is not true

How to verify every point on UAE employment contract types

What we will and will not do

We will read your offer and contract against the law before charging for anything else, tell you in writing what differs and what to ask for, prepare and submit contracts, amendments and renewals on the MOHRE system for employers, explain the effect of a change of work model or a salary cut in figures, and tell you plainly when a question needs a lawyer.

We will not draft a contract that takes away statutory rights, promise how MOHRE or a court will read a non-compete, advise you to stop working to put pressure on an employer, or charge a fee that was not quoted to you in writing first.

Related guides

• UAE work permit types: the permit that sits alongside each contract
• Probation period rules: the first months inside your contract
• Notice period under UAE labour law: ending a contract properly
• Annual leave entitlement: statutory and contractual leave
• End of service gratuity: what your basic salary decides
• MOHRE labour card guide: the card issued with your contract
• How to file a MOHRE complaint: when a contract term is not honoured
• How to cancel an employment visa: what happens when the contract ends
• What MOHRE is and does

Preparing, checking and updating employment contracts, and handling the work permits and visas that go with them, is what our PRO services in Dubai team handles.