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Yes, a false absconding report can be challenged, and your evidence of attendance is exactly what does it. An absconding report is meant for an employee who has genuinely stopped appearing at work without explanation — it is not a tool for punishing someone who filed a wage complaint, and the authorities treat retaliatory reports seriously. Filing a knowingly false report exposes the employer to penalties, and the timing here speaks for itself: three months of unpaid salary, a formal complaint from you, then suddenly an absconding flag. Move quickly on two tracks at once. First, contest the report through MOHRE: present everything showing you were at work after the date the company claims you absconded — access-card logs, biometric attendance, emails sent from the office, work product, colleague statements, even location data. Second, keep your salary complaint alive; it does not hurt you. The pending wage dispute supports the argument that the report was retaliation, and the two issues will reinforce each other rather than cancel out. Ask MOHRE explicitly to dismiss the absconding report and to note the sequence of events. Do not sign anything the employer offers in exchange for "removing" the flag without advice. An employment lawyer can run both tracks together — clearing your file and recovering the unpaid wages.

Salary in lieu of notice is a payment equal to the wage you would have earned had you worked your notice period. The Labour Law lets either party end a contract with written notice, normally between thirty and ninety days as fixed in your contract, and it allows the terminating party to pay compensation for that period instead of having it worked. The payment should be based on your wage as defined in your contract, so in principle it reflects what you would actually have been paid for those days rather than a stripped-down figure, and your other entitlements remain due in full: end-of-service gratuity, payment for unused annual leave, and any contractual benefits owed on termination. You generally cannot insist on physically serving the notice once the employer has chosen to pay in lieu; that choice belongs to the side ending the contract. What you can do is check the arithmetic: confirm the number of notice days, the wage figure used, and that the final settlement itemises gratuity and leave separately from the notice payment. Your visa cancellation and grace period then follow the usual process. Before signing a final settlement, have a licensed UAE lawyer verify the figure includes everything you are owed.

After probation, you are entitled to up to ninety days of sick leave per year: the first fifteen days at full pay, the next thirty at half pay, and the remainder unpaid. During probation there is no entitlement to paid sick leave. To claim it, you must notify your employer of the illness within three working days and provide a medical report issued by a licensed medical body. A sick note from a licensed clinic is normally sufficient; your employer can reasonably ask for the formal medical certificate, but cannot keep inventing extra documents as a condition of paying what the law requires. If your week off fell after probation and you supplied a valid certificate, deducting the full week from your salary is not permitted; those days should simply draw down your paid sick-leave balance. Put your position in writing, attach the medical report, and ask HR to confirm the basis of any deduction so there is a record. If they refuse to correct it, you can raise a wage complaint with MOHRE at no cost. A licensed lawyer familiar with UAE labour practice can help if the employer continues to withhold the pay.

Your employer cannot simply take a large slice of your salary because of an accident. The UAE Labour Law only allows deductions in defined situations, and recovering the cost of damage caused by a worker is one of them, but with strict limits: the amount deducted for damage in any one month is capped at five days' wage, and going beyond that needs court approval. On top of that, total deductions from your monthly pay, from all causes combined, cannot exceed half your wage. A one-off deduction of a big part of your salary, imposed without any agreed procedure, investigation, or acknowledgment from you, is very likely unlawful. It also matters that nothing about deductions was explained in your contract. Ask the company in writing for the legal basis and the calculation behind the deduction, and keep a copy of the accident report if one exists. If they will not return the excess, file a complaint with MOHRE, which can order wrongly withheld wages repaid. Speaking with a UAE labour lawyer before escalating can clarify whether the deduction was lawful in your case and how much you can recover.

Onshore, no. No provision of the UAE Labour Law sets a ratio between basic salary and the total package, so the split is left to the contract. For Emiratis in the private sector, MOHRE announced a minimum wage of AED 6,000 a month from 1 January 2026. The DIFC sets a 50% basic-wage floor for DEWS contributions and pre-2020 gratuity, and onshore has no equivalent. The split still matters. Gratuity, overtime premiums and the unemployment insurance benefit are calculated on basic wage, so a low basic lowers them even when the total stays the same. Agree the split before you sign and check it in your MOHRE-registered contract. Worked figures are in [our guide to basic salary in the UAE](/blog/basic-salary-uae-labour-law).

You are entitled to sixty days of maternity leave: forty-five days at full pay followed by fifteen days at half pay. If a pregnancy-related illness or a complication affecting the baby requires more time, you may take up to forty-five additional days unpaid, supported by a medical report. After returning to work, you are entitled to a daily paid nursing break for six months. On job security, the law is on your side in principle: dismissing a woman because of pregnancy or maternity leave is prohibited, and pregnancy is not a lawful ground for termination. A restructure that conveniently removes a pregnant employee's role can be challenged if the real reason is the pregnancy, though you would need to pursue it through a MOHRE complaint and potentially the courts. Practical steps now: ask HR to confirm your leave dates and pay in writing, keep copies of any messages hinting that your role is at risk, and hold on to your performance records. Going on leave does not pause your right to complain if something happens while you are away. If a dismissal follows, a licensed UAE labour lawyer can assess a claim quickly while the deadlines are still open.

Your full service counts as one continuous period, and your gratuity will be calculated under the current law using your final basic salary. When Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021 came into force, existing unlimited contracts had to be converted to fixed-term ones, but the conversion did not break or reset service; your ten-plus years all count. The calculation is twenty-one days of basic wage for each of your first five years of service and thirty days of basic wage for each year after that, with the total capped at two years' wage. Importantly, the old rules that reduced gratuity when an employee resigned from an unlimited contract no longer apply, so resigning now does not cut your entitlement the way it once might have. Days of unpaid absence can be excluded from the service calculation, and any part of a year beyond your completed years is paid pro rata. Before you resign, ask HR for a written breakdown of your expected end-of-service figure and check that the basic salary used is your current one, not a historic number. An employment lawyer in the UAE can check the calculation against your service history before you sign any settlement.

You can check directly with MOHRE whether a work-abandonment report, commonly called an absconding report, has been filed against you. Contact the MOHRE call centre or use its app or website with your Emirates ID or labour details, or visit a service centre in person; you can also check your residence status with the immigration authority. If a report exists and is untrue, you can challenge it: file a complaint with MOHRE explaining the real situation and attach evidence, such as your unpaid-salary records, messages with the company, and anything showing you did not simply disappear from work. The fact that you left after a genuine wage dispute matters, because employers sometimes misuse absconding reports to retaliate against workers who claim unpaid salary, and a false report can rebound on the company. Raise your unpaid-salary complaint at the same time if you have not already, since the two issues are connected and MOHRE can consider them together. Move quickly rather than waiting, because an unresolved report can complicate a new work permit or status change. A UAE lawyer can help you contest the report and pursue the unpaid salary in the same process.

Yes, in most cases you are entitled to paid overtime, and a manager saying it is already included in your package does not by itself remove that right. Under the UAE Labour Law, Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021, normal working hours are eight per day or forty-eight per week, and hours worked beyond that must be paid at your normal hourly rate plus a premium of at least twenty-five percent, rising to fifty percent for overtime worked at night. If you are required to work on your weekly rest day, you are entitled to either a substitute rest day or your wage for that day plus a fifty percent premium. Only limited categories of staff, mainly senior managerial and supervisory roles, sit outside the overtime rules, and a warehouse position is very unlikely to qualify. Start by keeping your own record of the hours you actually work, then raise the issue in writing with HR. If nothing changes, you can file a complaint with MOHRE, which handles wage disputes for private-sector workers, and the service is free. A licensed UAE labour lawyer can review your contract and time records and tell you exactly what you are owed.

Domestic workers in the UAE, including housemaids and nannies, are protected by a dedicated federal law. You are entitled to prompt payment of your agreed wage each month, one paid weekly rest day, daily rest hours, thirty days of paid annual leave, and decent accommodation and medical care. Your employer may not keep your passport — identity documents belong to you. Complaints go to MOHRE, which runs a dispute process for this sector: call its hotline or visit a service centre; your standard contract is the reference for what you are owed. Your embassy or consulate can also support you — keep whatever proof you have. Full step-by-step guide: [UAE domestic worker law and your rights](/blog/uae-domestic-worker-law-rights-2026).