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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.

Yes, outstanding secondary-school students can be considered for a UAE golden visa, typically a five-year permit. The published route for high-school students rests on top academic performance, with a very high minimum grade in the final certified results, combined with identification through the education authorities rather than grades alone; in practice the Ministry of Education and emirate-level education bodies identify qualifying students, and the family then completes the application through the federal ICP or the relevant residency authority with the certificates and identity documents. So both things you mention matter: the grades make her eligible in principle, and the official listing or nomination is the mechanism that unlocks the application. University students can also qualify later through a separate strand based on attending well-ranked universities with a strong academic record, which is worth knowing if the school route does not land this cycle. On timing, the application follows the final certified results, so the window opens once her grades are formally issued; ask her school now whether it submits nominations and what the current cycle requires, since the criteria are reviewed between years. An immigration specialist or licensed UAE lawyer can confirm the current requirements before results day.

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).

Nafis is the federal programme designed to move more UAE nationals into private-sector jobs, and from an employer's side it works as both a recruitment channel and a support scheme. Companies register on the Nafis platform, where they can post vacancies and reach Emirati jobseekers registered with the programme. The support side is what your leadership is probably interested in: the programme can provide salary support and other financial backing connected to Emirati hires, along with training and development schemes, which lowers the effective cost of employing a national. The obligations are about substance: the role must be genuine, the employee must be properly registered with MOHRE and enrolled in the pension system, and the hire must actually work in the position, since token or fake arrangements designed to claim benefits or tick quota boxes carry serious penalties. For a mid-sized company, Nafis also connects directly to Emiratisation compliance, because nationals you hire and register correctly count toward whatever targets apply at your headcount. Practical first steps: register the company on the platform, map which roles fit Emirati candidates, and brief payroll and HR on the registration requirements. A lawyer experienced in UAE employment compliance can review your hiring plan against the current rules.

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.

A UAE residence visa generally lapses if you stay outside the country for more than six continuous months, but you can request permission to return without losing it. For Dubai-issued visas the request goes to GDRFA; visas from other emirates use ICP's equivalent service. Apply online through the authority's website or app — often via your sponsor — explaining the long absence with supporting documents; medical reports about a parent's condition are exactly the evidence that helps. A fee applies and approval is discretionary, so wait for approval before booking travel. If refused, the fallback is cancelling the old visa and re-entering on a new entry permit through your sponsor. Full step-by-step guide: [GDRFA return permit for UAE residents](/blog/gdrfa-return-permit-uae).

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, there is a salary benchmark for the skilled-professionals golden visa route. The published criteria require a valid employment contract in the UAE, a bachelor's degree or equivalent, a job in an approved professional category, and a monthly salary of at least thirty thousand dirhams. On your real question of how a split package is assessed: the authorities work from your documented employment evidence, typically your registered work contract and a salary certificate from your employer, so what matters is the total monthly salary those documents show. An allowance-heavy structure is not automatically a problem if the overall documented salary meets the threshold, but make sure your salary certificate states the full package clearly rather than only the basic figure. As an engineer with six years in the UAE, gather your attested degree, your MOHRE or free zone contract, a recent salary certificate, and bank statements showing the salary actually landing, since consistency between documents is what reviewers look for. Applications go through the federal ICP or, in Dubai, the GDRFA channels, and eligibility pre-checks are available. A licensed UAE immigration lawyer can review how your salary structure will be read before you submit the application.