Key takeaways
- Nafis child allowance rises to Dh600 per child with no cap from September — and employers must now pay their full share of pension contributions for Emirati staff.
- Midday break ends 15 September: outdoor work restrictions remain in force until that date. Fines of Dh5,000 per worker still apply if you let staff work outside between 12:30 pm and 3:00 pm.
- MoHRE has identified six health insurance violations that block work permit renewals — including cancelling a policy mid-permit or making a worker pay their own premium.
Three separate labour-compliance developments are converging in September, each with a direct cost for employers or HR teams that miss the detail. The Nafis programme has restructured its salary-support and allowance framework, effective this month. The summer midday work ban — now in its 22nd year — lifts on 15 September, but liability runs until midnight on that date. And MoHRE published a formal list of health insurance breaches that it treats as grounds to suspend or refuse work permit renewals. Here is what each means in practice.
1. Nafis overhaul takes effect in September: child allowance, new salary support and employer pension contributions
The Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council confirmed the details ahead of the September 2026 changes to the Nafis Emiratisation programme. The headline change is to the child allowance: eligible Emirati employees in private-sector and banking establishments now receive Dh600 per qualifying child per month, with the previous ceiling of four children removed entirely. No cap means a family with six or seven children receives the full Dh600 for each one.
To qualify, the employee’s monthly salary must not exceed Dh50,000. For sons, payments continue until the child turns 21 or starts work. For daughters, eligibility runs until marriage or employment. Duplicate allowances for the same children cannot be claimed through multiple social-benefit schemes simultaneously.
Emirati women married to Emirati men can receive the child allowance under two specific conditions: where the husband has died, or where the woman is the primary earner because the husband is unable to work or is unemployed. Proof of dependency must come through a court decision; medical incapacity must be confirmed by an official medical authority. Nafis does not extend the same allowance to Emirati women married to non-Emirati men.
Beyond the allowance change, September also brings two entirely new salary-support programmes for HR teams to be aware of when managing Emirati staff.
| Programme | Eligible employee | Monthly salary band | Support (up to) | Other conditions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Children of Emirati mothers in private sector | Children of women working in eligible private-sector or banking roles | Dh6,000–Dh20,000 | Dh3,000/month | Min. bachelor’s degree accredited by MoHE |
| Wives of Emirati men in private sector | Women (generally Emirati) whose husbands work in the private sector | Dh6,000–Dh15,000 | Dh3,000/month | Min. bachelor’s degree; family-status requirements apply |
The minimum monthly salary for eligibility across all Nafis support programmes has also been standardised at Dh6,000. Both new programmes are available to new beneficiaries from September; some changes affecting existing recipients will be phased in.
Employer pension contributions: the change that costs money
The change with the most immediate financial impact for employers is the pension contribution restructure. From September 2026, private-sector employers must pay their legally required share of pension contributions for Emirati employees in full. Previously, Nafis covered a portion of that employer share as part of its subscription programme. That subsidy has now ended; the employer share is now entirely the establishment’s own liability.
Review your September payroll to confirm you are now funding the full employer pension contribution for each Emirati employee. Nafis will continue to cover the employee’s own contribution under the subscription scheme, but the employer share has moved entirely off the programme from this month.
The wider reforms follow the extension of the Nafis programme to 2040 and are linked to the UAE’s Year of Family 2026. The Council reported that more than 176,000 Emiratis have been placed in private-sector employment since Nafis launched, with 152,000 active beneficiaries working across 32,000 establishments as of March. More than 38,000 children had received support through the child allowance scheme at that point. Refer to the Emiratisation rules guide for the quota and penalty framework that applies to your establishment size.
1. Update payroll for the employer pension contribution
Remove any assumption that Nafis will cover the employer share. Calculate the correct contribution for each registered Emirati employee and fund it from the September payroll cycle.
2. Identify eligible staff for the new salary-support programmes
Check whether any Emirati employees or their family members qualify for the new children-of-mothers or wives-of-Emirati-men programmes. Eligible staff can register through the Nafis portal.
3. Confirm or update child-allowance registrations
Employees who were previously receiving the allowance for four children and have more than four qualifying children should update their Nafis registration to remove the old cap.
Need to update your Nafis registration or payroll structure this month?
Our PRO team can check your establishment’s Nafis file, confirm the pension contribution position and flag any eligibility gaps before the September cycle closes.
2. Midday break ends 15 September — but liability runs until midnight
The UAE’s annual ban on outdoor work between 12:30 pm and 3:00 pm lifts on 15 September 2026, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation confirmed when announcing the start of the 22nd consecutive year of the initiative on 4 June. The ban covers all outdoor work in direct sunlight and in open areas. It applies across the private sector, regardless of industry or company size, and covers construction, maintenance, landscaping, delivery and any other role carried out outside during those hours.
The fine for non-compliance remains Dh5,000 per worker found working during the prohibited hours, with a maximum penalty of Dh50,000 if multiple workers are involved in a single inspection visit. MoHRE inspection teams use both field visits and digital monitoring systems.
With nine days remaining under the current schedule, this is not the week to relax site supervision. Compliance this year has again been reported at 99 per cent across the private sector, as reported by Gulf News in August. That figure comes from MoHRE’s own inspection data and reflects the sustained pressure of 22 years of enforcement. It also means inspectors have strong expectations of full compliance and are unlikely to treat a violation as a minor oversight at this late stage of the summer.
Asphalt paving, concrete pouring, and emergency utility repairs (water, electricity, traffic) may continue during prohibited hours where they cannot technically be interrupted. Even for exempt work, employers must provide additional shaded rest, drinking water, approved hydration supplements and first-aid equipment at the site. The exemption covers the activity, not the obligation to protect workers from heat.
After 15 September, the outdoor work restriction ends, but the general obligation to protect workers from occupational heat stress continues under the UAE’s broader health and safety framework. Establishments that have deployed air-conditioned rest stations for delivery riders — MoHRE has confirmed more than 12,000 such stations across the UAE this summer — should plan whether to retain any of those facilities as part of their year-round welfare provision.
MoHRE’s call centre for reporting violations is 600590000. Complaints can also be filed through the ministry’s website and smart application. For details on how to raise a formal complaint against an employer, see the MoHRE complaint guide.
3. MoHRE lists six health insurance breaches that block work permit renewals
In an August 22 guidance note reported by Gulf News, MoHRE set out six specific health insurance failures that it treats as non-compliance with Ministerial Resolution No. 504 of 2026 — the ministerial resolution that electronically links health insurance status to work permit issuance and renewal. A worker without a valid, compliant policy will be blocked at the permit-renewal stage; the system now checks automatically. That changes the risk profile significantly: what was previously a compliance gap that might surface during an inspection can now surface at the point of routine permit renewal.
| # | Violation |
|---|---|
| 1 | Failing to enrol a worker in a health insurance policy, or failing to renew an existing policy |
| 2 | Refusing to cover the cost of healthcare services or emergency medical treatment for an insured worker |
| 3 | Requiring the worker to bear all or part of the cost of subscribing to or renewing the health insurance policy |
| 4 | Providing a policy that does not meet MoHRE’s minimum coverage requirements |
| 5 | Cancelling a policy while the work permit remains valid, breaking the continuity of coverage |
| 6 | Failing to maintain continuous health insurance coverage for the full two-year validity of the work permit |
The two-year coverage rule (violation 6) is the one most commonly overlooked. An employer who takes out a one-year policy and then delays renewal by even a few weeks creates a gap in coverage that can block the next work permit renewal across the entire establishment file, not just for the affected employee. MoHRE can also suspend, reject or refuse to renew work permits for the establishment as a whole in response to persistent non-compliance.
Separately, MoHRE conducted a public consultation on the health insurance framework that closed on 1 September. The consultation asked employers to identify their priorities (cost, coverage scope, provider network, approval speed), their workforce structure and any challenges they face. MoHRE said the feedback will inform future development of the system. No changes to the current rules have been announced as a result of the survey; the six violations listed above remain in force. Your employment visa renewals and domestic worker visa renewals both depend on meeting these insurance requirements, so it is worth auditing your coverage now rather than at the point of renewal. If you find a gap, the MoHRE complaint process also applies in reverse: employees can report non-compliance.
MoHRE’s Insurance Pool offers a basic-compliant product at no more than Dh320 per worker per year (for workers aged up to 64). This covers private-sector employees and domestic workers. If your current policy costs more, it may still be compliant — but if it costs less, check that it meets the minimum coverage requirements approved by MoHRE, not just the premium threshold.
Questions from this week
The Nafis child allowance used to be capped at four children. Has that actually changed?
Yes. The Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council confirmed that from September 2026 the four-child ceiling has been removed. Eligible employees now receive Dh600 a month for every qualifying child, with no numerical limit. The salary cap of Dh50,000 per month still applies to the employee.
My Emirati employee’s child has just turned 21. Do they still qualify for the allowance?
No. For sons, the allowance ends when the child turns 21 or starts working, whichever comes first. For daughters, eligibility ends on marriage or when they begin working. Update the Nafis registration as soon as the qualifying event occurs to avoid overpayment.
Does my company still have to pay the employer share of pension for Emirati staff from September?
Yes, and in full. From September 2026, Nafis no longer subsidises the employer share of pension contributions. Your establishment must fund its full legally required employer contribution. Nafis continues to cover the employee’s own contribution under the subscription scheme.
Can outdoor workers do any work at all between 12:30 pm and 3:00 pm until 15 September?
Only under a specific exemption: asphalt paving, concrete pouring and emergency utility repairs (water, electricity, traffic) where interruption is technically impossible. Even exempt workers must be provided with shade, water, hydration supplements and first aid. All other outdoor work in direct sunlight must stop during those hours. The ban lifts in full on 15 September.
What is the fine if one worker is caught working outside between 12:30 and 3:00 pm before 15 September?
Dh5,000 per worker found in violation, up to a maximum of Dh50,000 if multiple workers are involved in a single inspection. The maximum can apply where, for example, ten or more workers are found working during the prohibited hours at one site.
Our health insurance policy is valid for one year, not two. Is that a problem?
Yes, if the gap between renewal and the next permit issuance leaves the worker uncovered. MoHRE’s rules require continuous coverage throughout the full two-year work permit period. A one-year policy needs to be renewed before it lapses — any gap triggers violation 6 in MoHRE’s framework and can block your permit renewal. Either switch to a two-year policy or set a strict renewal reminder before the expiry date.
Can an employee pay half their own health insurance and the employer pays half? Is that allowed?
No. Under MoHRE’s framework, the employer bears the full cost of subscribing to and renewing the health insurance policy. Requiring the worker to contribute any portion of the premium is violation 3, regardless of the amount or whether the worker agreed to it.
Where do I report a midday break violation I have witnessed?
Call MoHRE on 600590000, or report through the MoHRE website or smart app. You do not need to be the affected worker — third parties including members of the public can file a report. MoHRE inspection teams will follow up.
- Media Centre — Ministry of Human Resources & Emiratisation (MoHRE)
- The Midday Break — MoHRE Guidance Portal
Reporting referenced
- UAE midday outdoor work ban starts June 15, fines up to Dh50,000 — Gulf News, 4 June 2026
- Midday outdoor work ban returns across UAE for 22nd year — Gulf News, 8 June 2026
- UAE’s midday work ban achieves 99% compliance — Gulf News, 9 August 2026
- Nafis: Dh600 per child, no four-child cap — Gulf News, 30 August 2026
- UAE identifies six health insurance violations by employers — Gulf News, 22 August 2026
Please note. This roundup covers 1–6 September 2026 and was compiled on 6 September 2026. Rules, fees and deadlines are set by MoHRE, ICP, GDRFA and the relevant local authorities and can change without notice. Figures and dates are taken from the sources listed above; where a position is still unresolved, the article says so. Confirm your own position with the relevant authority before acting. General information, not legal advice.
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