How to Read a UAE Job Offer

Read a UAE offer line by line, not as one monthly total. The basic salary sets your end-of-service gratuity and your leave pay. The allowances, probation, notice and non-compete set what you can count on in year one and how easily you can leave. The offer letter you sign is the document your employment contract has to match.

Last reviewed 22 October 2026. The legal rules below come from Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 (the UAE Labour Law for the private sector outside DIFC and ADGM). Sources are listed at the end.

This guide is for reading an offer before you sign it. For how to push back on the numbers, see the Offer Negotiation guide. For the UK side of the move (when you stop paying UK tax, the P85 and split-year treatment), see the UK Tax guide.

The headline picture

Start with the offer letter itself

On the mainland, the employer applies for your work permit with a signed offer letter, and Ministerial Decree No. 46 of 2022 requires the employment contract to follow the approved standard form and conform to that offer. Gulf News reports that the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) offer letter must state the job title, salary, contract type, start date, weekly rest day and notice period. If the contract you are later asked to sign differs from the offer on these terms, you can ask the employer to amend it to match.

So treat the offer letter as the contract in draft. Anything you were promised on a call (a bonus floor, a schooling allowance, family health cover) needs to be in the offer letter or a signed side letter. A side letter can add benefits but cannot take away rights the law gives you.

If the role is in the DIFC or ADGM financial free zones, a different employment law applies, with its own rules on notice and end-of-service pay. Ask which law governs the contract before you compare offers.

Basic salary against allowances

A UAE offer usually splits monthly pay into a basic salary and several allowances: housing, transport and sometimes a general or "other" allowance. The total is what lands in your account each month. The split matters for three reasons:

• Gratuity is worked out on basic only. Article 51 of the Labour Law calculates end-of-service pay on the last basic wage.
• Leave pay on leaving. When your employment ends, unused annual leave is paid out, and HR guides on Article 29 say this is worked out on basic salary.
• The split is the employer's choice. The law sets no ratio between basic and allowances, so two offers with the same total can produce very different gratuity.

When you compare two offers, compare total monthly cash and basic salary side by side. The Package Decoder does this for you.

End-of-service gratuity

Gratuity is a lump sum your employer pays when your employment ends. Under Article 51 you are entitled to it once you complete one year of continuous service:

• 21 days' basic wage for each of the first five years
• 30 days' basic wage for each year after that
• Part-years count pro rata once you pass the first full year
• The total cannot exceed two years' wage

A payroll guide reviewing Article 51 says the current law pays the same gratuity whether you resign or the employer ends the contract. Gratuity is paid by the employer when you leave and does not carry over to your next employer.

In the DIFC, employers pay into the DIFC Employee Workplace Savings plan (DEWS) instead. Coverage of its 2020 launch gives the minimum employer contribution as 5.83% of basic salary for under five years' service and 8.33% from five years. Ask a DIFC employer for the current rate and the fund options.

The Gratuity Calculator works out your figure for any basic salary and length of service.

Housing, schooling and flights

Housing allowance. Usually paid monthly with salary, while landlords usually ask for a year's rent in one to four cheques, all handed over when you sign. Check whether the employer will pay some of the allowance in advance for your first lease. The worked example below shows the size of the gap.

Schooling allowance. The law does not require one. Where it is offered, get in writing the amount per child, how many children it covers, whether it covers tuition only or also registration fees and uniforms, and whether it is paid upfront each term or reimbursed against receipts. Then compare it with the fees at the schools you would actually use; the school finder lists fees by school.

Flights. Get in writing who is covered (you, a partner, children), how many trips a year, the class of travel, and whether it is paid as booked tickets or a cash amount.

Probation

Article 9 caps probation at six months from your start date. During probation:

• The employer can end your contract with 14 days' written notice.
• You can leave to join another UAE employer by giving one month's written notice. Under the same article, the new employer may have to compensate your current employer for recruitment costs, unless agreed otherwise.
• You can leave the UAE by giving 14 days' written notice.

A shorter probation is a reasonable ask for a senior hire, and the offer letter should state the length.

Notice period

Once probation ends, Article 43 lets either side end the contract with written notice of at least 30 days and at most 90 days. The contract sets the figure within that range. If either side does not serve the notice, it owes the other pay in lieu of notice. The parties can agree to shorten or waive the notice, provided you keep your entitlements for the notice period in the contract.

For a move from the UK, read the UAE notice period alongside your current UK one. If your UK notice is three months and the UAE start date is in six weeks, settle the start date in the offer letter before you resign.

Non-compete clauses

Article 10 allows a non-compete where your job gives you access to clients or trade secrets. The clause must name the place, the time and the type of work it covers, limited to what is needed to protect the employer's legitimate business interests, and it cannot run longer than two years after the contract ends. It is void if the employer ends the contract in breach of the law.

Before you sign, check the clause names a sector and a geography you could live with, and a period shorter than the two-year maximum.

Annual leave and health insurance

Annual leave. Under Article 29 you are entitled to 30 days of paid leave a year once you complete a year, and two days a month for service between six months and a year. Some offers quote leave in working days; ask which.

Health insurance. Since 1 January 2025, private sector employers across the UAE must provide health insurance for their employees, as a condition of issuing or renewing residence visas. Cover for a partner and children varies by emirate and by employer. Ask for the plan's table of benefits for each family member before you sign. The Health Insurance guide covers what to check.

Worked example: two offers with the same total

Both offers below pay AED 40,000 a month in total cash. They differ only in the split.

| | Offer A | Offer B | | --- | --- | --- | | Basic salary | AED 24,000 | AED 28,000 | | Housing allowance | AED 12,000 | AED 8,000 | | Transport and other allowances | AED 4,000 | AED 4,000 | | Total monthly cash | AED 40,000 | AED 40,000 | | Gratuity after 3 years | AED 49,710 | AED 57,995 | | Gratuity after 5 years | AED 82,849 | AED 96,658 |

Offer B pays AED 8,285 more gratuity after three years and AED 13,809 more after five, for the same monthly cash. The gratuity figures use Landed's Gratuity Calculator rule: 21 days' basic a year, with the daily rate taken as a year's basic divided by 365.

The first month is where cash runs short. The first-month cash calculator opens on a two-adult, one-child move to a Dubai flat at AED 120,000 a year, paid in four cheques. It puts the cash leaving your account in the first month at AED 62,230, of which the first rent cheque is AED 30,000, with three further cheques of AED 30,000 handed over at signing. Offer A's housing allowance is AED 12,000 a month. Unless the employer advances some of it, most of that first-month cash comes from your savings.

What to ask before you sign

1. Is this the MOHRE offer letter, and will the contract match it? Which employment law applies (mainland, DIFC or ADGM)?
2. What is the basic salary, and can more of the total sit in basic?
3. Is any of the housing allowance paid in advance for the first lease?
4. What does the schooling allowance cover, per child, and when is it paid?
5. Which health insurance plan covers me, and which covers my partner and children?
6. How long is probation, and what is the notice period after it?
7. What exactly does the non-compete cover, where, and for how long?
8. Is the bonus a target with a range, or fully discretionary?
9. What start date does this assume, given my UK notice period?

What this guide does not cover

• Negotiating the numbers. The Offer Negotiation guide covers that.
• DIFC and ADGM employment law in detail, and public sector contracts.
• Visa steps after you accept.
• UK tax on leaving. The UK Tax guide covers the residence test, split-year treatment and the P85.
• Legal advice on a specific contract. For a dispute, MOHRE runs the complaints process for mainland employees.

Next steps

• Put your offer into the Package Decoder to see basic, allowances and gratuity together.
• Run your basic salary through the Gratuity Calculator.
• Check the first month's cash in the first-month cash calculator.
• Moving with children? The family cost gap guide sets school fees and rent beside your allowances.

Sources

Checked 22 October 2026. The UAE government pages (uaelegislation.gov.ae, mohre.gov.ae, u.ae) could not be opened from the session that wrote this guide, so the legal rules were read from the press and law firm pages below, which quote the articles. Each is due to be checked against the official text.

• Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations, Article 51 (gratuity: 21 and 30 days' basic wage, one year's continuous service, part-years pro rata, total capped at two years' wage), as reproduced in New UAE Labour Law: How is gratuity calculated? (Gulf News).
• Article 51, resignation and termination treated alike: Gratuity by scenario (Zoho Payroll).
• Article 9 (probation: six months, 14 days' notice from the employer, one month to join another UAE employer, 14 days to leave the UAE): New UAE Labour Law: What are your rights during probation period? (Gulf News) and what you need to know about the 6 month probation period (Khaleej Times).
• Article 43 (notice: 30 to 90 days, pay in lieu, shortening by agreement): New UAE Labour Law: How long should the notice period be? (Gulf News).
• Article 10 (non-compete: up to two years, place, time and type of work, void on unlawful termination): New UAE Labour Law: What is the non-compete clause? (Gulf News).
• Article 29 (annual leave: 30 days a year, 2 days a month from six months, leave pay on basic): If you haven't completed a year of service, can you still take annual leave? (Gulf News) and What leave are employees entitled to under UAE labour law? (Sovereign Group).
• Ministerial Decree No. 46 of 2022 (contract conforms to the offer) and the contents of a MOHRE offer letter: My work contract is different from my offer letter (Gulf News).
• Health insurance for private sector employees from 1 January 2025: UAE's mandatory health insurance for workers begins (Gulf News).
• DEWS minimum contributions: New gratuity plan for expats working in DIFC live from February (Gulf News, 2020).
• Worked example: statutoryGratuityAED (Gratuity Calculator) and the first-month cash calculator's worked example, both in Landed's code, run on 22 October 2026.