Labour & Employment 2025
Primary and secondary legislationWhat are the main statutes and regulations relating to employment?>>🔗
Main statutes: onshore
Following substantive legislative reform in 2021, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) overhauled the private sector's employment legislation and subordinate legislation.
Public sector employees are governed by separate legislation (eg, Federal Decree-Law No. 49/2022 on Human Resources in the Federal Government) and each emirates' own public sector laws.
The two main sources of legislation and subordinate executive regulations governing private sector labour and employment in the United Arab Emirates are:
Federal Decree-Law No. 33/2021 Regarding the Regulation of Employment Relationships (the Labour Law), as amended, which repealed Federal Law No. 8/1980 and came into force on 2 February 2022; and
Cabinet Decision No. 1/2022 on Implementing Regulations of Federal Decree-Law No. 33/2021 Regarding the Regulation of Employment Relationships (the Executive Regulations).
The Labour Law has been amended to date by:
Federal Decree-Law No. 14/2022;
Federal Decree-Law No. 20/2023; and
Federal Decree-Law No. 9/2024.
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