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One MOHRE violation in the UAE can be enough to freeze your hiring: MOHRE suspends new work permits on the fifth day after a missed salary due date, and employing a worker without a valid permit carries fines of AED 100,000 to AED 1,000,000. In 2026, MOHRE enforcement is heavily data-driven, supported by digital salary monitoring, permit controls, and inspection campaigns.
For businesses of any size, compliance is not just an HR checklist. It is a business continuity requirement. Repeated violations can lead to permit restrictions, file suspension, fines, and legal escalation. To see whether your company already has fines on file, our guide to checking your company’s MOHRE fines walks through the lookup.
Sarmat, a registered typing centre in Deira, Dubai, handles this paperwork for clients every week. Below are five commonly audited violation areas and practical prevention steps based on official UAE and MOHRE guidance.
Fake Emiratisation includes using non-genuine placements or role manipulation to appear compliant with Emiratisation requirements while bypassing actual talent integration.
Under Cabinet Decision No. 43 of 2025, sham Emiratisation carries an administrative fine of AED 20,000 to AED 100,000 per worker, and circumventing the targets by cutting headcount or reclassifying staff costs AED 100,000 for a first offence, AED 300,000 for a second and AED 500,000 for a third or later one. Missing the target itself triggers a financial contribution: for establishments with 50 or more employees, MOHRE applied it at AED 6,000 a month for every Emirati not hired in 2022, rising by AED 1,000 a year until 2026, and companies with 20–49 employees in the 14 designated sectors were charged AED 108,000 in January 2026 for failing to hire two Emiratis in 2025.
Don’t want to figure this out alone? Sarmat is a KHDA-certified training provider and registered typing centre in Deira, Dubai. Message us on WhatsApp — we answer questions like this every day.
Under Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026, in force since 1 June 2026, the first day of each Gregorian month is the single due date for the previous month’s wages, paid through the WPS; any payment made after that date is a delay. Resolution 340 repealed Ministerial Resolution No. 598 of 2022, so guidance written for the earlier rules no longer applies. An establishment is deemed compliant if it has transferred at least 85% of the total wages due by the due date.
MOHRE sends notifications from the second day after the due date and suspends new work permits on the fifth day. On the eleventh day, an establishment that repeats the violation within six months receives the administrative fine under Cabinet Resolution No. 21 of 2020 and is reclassified into the Third Category. From the sixteenth day, establishments with 25 or more workers face an automatically registered labour dispute, and from the twenty-first day the measures — aimed at establishments with 50 or more workers, certain groups of establishments under one owner, and cases that put the stability of the labour market at risk — include precautionary attachment, a travel ban on the person in charge and, where an establishment with more than 50 workers repeats the violation within two consecutive months, notification of the Public Prosecution. The full timeline is in our guide to the 2026 salary rules.
UAE legal guidance states it is unlawful to work without a valid permit and unlawful for employers to recruit or employ workers before permit issuance through proper channels.
Article 60 of the Labour Law, as amended by Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2024, sets a fine of AED 100,000 to AED 1,000,000 for an employer who employs a worker without a work permit, recruits a worker and fails to provide a job, or uses a work permit for a purpose other than the one it was issued for. Under Article 62 the fine varies with the number of workers involved, up to a maximum of AED 10,000,000.
Labour-law rules prohibit employers from passing recruitment and hiring-related costs to workers, directly or indirectly.
The law sets no dedicated fine for this breach. It falls under Article 63 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 — a fine of AED 5,000 to AED 1,000,000 for violating any other provision of the law — and the worker can file a complaint with MOHRE.
Official UAE workplace safety guidance confirms that work under direct sun or in open spaces is restricted from 12:30 PM to 3:00 PM, from 15 June to 15 September each year.
MOHRE has announced the fine as AED 5,000 for every worker per breach, up to a maximum of AED 50,000. Exempt work includes asphalt laying or concrete pouring that cannot be postponed and emergency repairs to public services.
MOHRE compliance is an ongoing operating process, not a one-time legal check. The safest approach is to continuously align contracts, payroll, permits, and site operations with current official guidance.
At Sarmat, we help businesses build and run practical compliance systems, including policy structuring, workforce documentation control, and end-to-end visa and WPS process management.
Under Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026 (in force since 1 June 2026, repealing Resolution 598 of 2022), wages for the previous month are due through the Wage Protection System on the first day of each month, and any later payment counts as a delay. MOHRE sends notifications from the second day after the due date and suspends new work permits on the fifth day. On the eleventh day, an establishment that repeats the violation within six months receives the administrative fine under Cabinet Resolution No. 21 of 2020 and is moved to the Third Category. Further measures on days 16 and 21 depend on headcount and sector.
Private-sector establishments with 50 or more employees must raise the share of Emiratis in their skilled jobs by 2% a year, and companies with 20–49 employees in 14 designated sectors had to hire one Emirati in 2024 and a second in 2025. Fake Emiratisation — registering a UAE national without a genuine job — carries an administrative fine of AED 20,000 to AED 100,000 per worker under Cabinet Decision No. 43 of 2025, and the case can still be referred to the Public Prosecution. Separately, Article 60 of the Labour Law, as amended by Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2024, sets a fine of AED 100,000 to AED 1,000,000 for appointing fictitious employees, multiplied by the number of employees fictitiously appointed.
No. Article 6(4) of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 (UAE Labour Law) prohibits the employer from charging the worker the fees and costs of recruitment and employment, or collecting them from the worker, directly or indirectly. The law sets no separate fine for this breach: it falls under the general penalty in Article 63, a fine of AED 5,000 to AED 1,000,000 for violating any other provision of the law.
From 15 June to 15 September each year, work under the sun and in open places is banned between 12:30 pm and 3:00 pm. MOHRE has announced the fine as AED 5,000 for every worker per breach, up to a maximum of AED 50,000. A few jobs are exempt, such as asphalt laying or concrete pouring that cannot be postponed and emergency repairs to public services.
Under Article 60 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, as amended by Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2024, an employer who employs a worker without obtaining a work permit faces a fine of AED 100,000 to AED 1,000,000. Under Article 62 the fine on the employer varies with the number of workers involved, up to a maximum of AED 10,000,000.
Article 57 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 gives MOHRE inspectors the capacity of law enforcement officers: they may enter establishments, examine violations and write the records. Neither Article 57 nor the inspection rules in the Executive Regulations mention advance notice. Employers must give inspectors the facilities and information they need, and obstructing an inspector by force, violence or threats is punishable under Article 59 by a fine of AED 20,000 to AED 100,000.
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