Minimum wage in the United Arab Emirates (2026)

No floor for expatriates, separate rules for nationals

For expatriate workers, no general wage floor applies. UAE nationals are treated differently: Emiratization rules set pay terms for Emirati employees in the private sector, which secondary sources report as a minimum basic salary. We could not confirm that figure on an official MoHRE page, so this page does not state it.

The gratuity: the cost that replaces social security

An expatriate with at least one year of service earns 21 days' last basic wage per year for the first five years and 30 days per year after that, capped at two years' wage (Article 51). The Cabinet may approve savings schemes in place of the gratuity.

21 days a year is 21 / 360 = 5.83% of annual basic pay, using a 30-day month (a common payroll convention that we did not confirm on an official page). Because only basic pay counts, the share of total pay is lower: in our cost index example, with basic at 60% of the package, it is 3.5%.

UAE nationals: GPSSA pension

The GPSSA site rejected automated requests, so these rates come from a Zoho Payroll summary (a secondary source). For Emiratis insured from October 2023, the employer contribution is 15% of the contribution salary (basic plus fixed allowances), of which the government covers 2.5% for salaries under AED 20,000, so the employer pays a net 12.5%; the employee pays 11%. The contribution salary runs from AED 3,000 to AED 70,000 a month. Abu Dhabi nationals are covered by a separate fund.

Hours and leave

Normal hours are capped at 8 a day and 48 a week (Article 18). Annual leave is 30 days a year after one year of service, or 2 days a month after six months (Article 29).

Hiring in the UAE through an EOR

An employer of record holds the employment contract and accrues the gratuity. Expect $99 to $699 a month per employee at published rates, from the starting price at Native Teams (its help center says EUR 99) to Oyster's fee (checked October 16, 2026); Deel lists $599. The international cost calculator adds the gratuity to any salary; our EOR scores, the UAE hiring guide and the cost index cover the rest. Saudi Arabia also has no general minimum, while Qatar sets QAR 1,000.