Employment
Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021 with mandatory limited-term contracts
The 2021 Labour Law abolished unlimited-term contracts, requiring all private sector employment to be on fixed terms of up to three years, renewable.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — MOHRE conciliation then the labour courts onshore. The DIFC and ADGM apply their own employment laws with claims heard in their own courts.
- Deadline — 1 year to bring a labour claim from the date the right arose
- Deadline — 30 to 90 days' notice depending on the contract
- Deadline — 14 days for MOHRE to attempt conciliation before referral to court
Governing law
- Labour Law, Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021, in force February 2022
- Cabinet Resolution 1 of 2022 — implementing regulations
- DIFC Employment Law 2019DIFC Law 2 of 2019
- ADGM Employment Regulations 2019
In practice
The compulsory conversion of every unlimited contract to a fixed term was a structural change, not a drafting tidy-up, and it altered end-of-service and termination analysis across the entire private sector. End-of-service gratuity remains the core terminal benefit onshore, and the DEWS funded scheme in the DIFC replaced it there, which is a real divergence between zones rather than an administrative variant. The 2021 law also introduced part-time and flexible models and strengthened anti-discrimination provisions. Free zone employees are governed by their zone's law, so the applicable employment code follows the employer's registration.