Guide · updated 31.07.2026 · 16 min read · Lucent Legal team

Labour Dispute in the UAE: Unpaid Salary, MOHRE Complaints, and Gratuity — 2026

If your salary is late for the second month running, your employer is dragging its feet on your final settlement, or someone's threatened to "cancel your visa" if you complain — you're not the first person this has happened to, and the UAE has a working, genuinely functional channel for it: the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE). Below is how a complaint actually moves through the system, what MOHRE can decide on its own versus what goes to court, how gratuity is calculated under current law, and why none of this applies the same way if you work for a company registered in DIFC, ADGM, or certain free zones. This isn't a substitute for advice on your specific case, but it's enough to know what you're dealing with and stop losing time to myths.

Your Rights Under UAE Labour Law

The core statute is Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 "On the Regulation of Labour Relations" (in force since 2 February 2022), which replaced the old 1980 law. It also did away with the old split between "limited" and "unlimited" contracts — every new employment contract is now fixed-term, capped at 3 years with the option to renew.

What actually works in your favour under this law: - salary has to be paid through WPS (Wage Protection System) — a government transfer system that logs the payment and its date with MOHRE directly, not just on the employer's word; - after at least a year of service, termination or resignation entitles you to gratuity (an end-of-service benefit) — the formula is below; - both sides must respect the notice period, and termination without valid cause or proper procedure can be found "arbitrary," with compensation attached; - you can file a complaint with MOHRE for free, and the employer is legally barred from retaliating against you specifically for having filed it.

Here's what to do for each specific problem.

Unpaid Salary: First Steps

Under WPS rules, salary for a calendar month has to reach your account by a set deadline. That deadline got noticeably stricter on 1 June 2026: under Ministerial Resolution No. 340/2026, salary must now land through WPS no later than the 1st of the following month — the old 15-day buffer, after which a delay used to only get logged as a violation, no longer applies. In practice, July's salary must be paid by 1 August, with no extra grace period.

From there, the penalty scale against the employer escalates (in effect since 1 June 2026): - day 2 after the deadline — MOHRE sends the employer an official notice; - day 5 — the ministry can suspend the company's new work permits; - day 11 — administrative fines (typically around AED 1,000 per affected employee, up to AED 20,000), with a category downgrade for the company on a repeat within six months; - day 16, for companies with 25+ employees — an automatic labour dispute filing plus broader permit restrictions; - day 21, for companies with 50+ employees — possible asset freezes, a travel ban on the person in charge, and referral to the public prosecutor.

What to actually do: 1. Document the delay — screenshots of your banking app, correspondence with HR/accounting about the reason. 2. Send your employer a written reminder (an email is enough — it gives you a date and a paper trail). 3. If there's no response after a reasonable stretch (a few days to a week), or this isn't the first delay, go straight to MOHRE — don't wait for it to sort itself out. The longer unpaid wages pile up, the harder they are to recover if the company genuinely runs out of money.

Filing a MOHRE Complaint Step by Step

You can file a few different ways: - The MOHRE app (Google Play / App Store) — log in via UAE Pass or with a transaction number and Emirates ID, then Dashboard → Service → Employees → the complaint icon, describe the issue, pick a complaint type, and submit. - In person at a MOHRE office (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and other emirates). - The ministry's contact centre (the number listed on mohre.gov.ae) — for advice or to register a complaint by phone.

Once it's filed: 1. Mediation (up to 14 days). MOHRE contacts both sides and tries to broker a settlement — this is a mandatory first step under Federal Decree-Law No. 33/2021. 2. If both sides agree — MOHRE records the settlement and the case closes. 3. If mediation fails, the next step depends on the amount claimed: - for claims up to AED 50,000, MOHRE can issue its own final decision on the merits; - for claims over AED 50,000, or if either side disputes the ministry's decision, the case goes to labour court — you normally need to register the lawsuit within 14 days of MOHRE approving the referral.

Filing with MOHRE is free for the employee, and the ministry treats it as a protected channel — an employer isn't allowed to fire or otherwise punish you for the fact of filing. That doesn't rule out the relationship souring in practice, so keep everything in writing.

Check your complaint status through the app or website ("My Complaints") — it's the only reliable way to know where things stand, rather than taking HR's word for it.

Gratuity: How It's Calculated

Gratuity (the end-of-service benefit) is governed by Articles 51–53 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33/2021. The key rules:

• You qualify after at least 1 full year of continuous service with the same employer. Under a year, no gratuity is owed at all.
• The formula:
• 21 days of basic salary for each year within the first 5 years of service;
• 30 days of basic salary for each year beyond 5 years.
• Only basic salary counts — housing, transport, and other allowances are excluded.
• The payout is capped at 2 years' salary, however long you worked.
• Resignation vs. termination. For fixed-term contracts under the 2022 reform, the old distinction between "you were let go" and "you quit" has generally been dropped — with a year or more of service, gratuity is calculated the same way regardless of who ended it. If you're still on an older unlimited contract from before the reform and it hasn't been converted, the old reduced rates for resignation at 1–5 years may still apply — that's worth checking against your contract's actual date and type rather than general figures online.
• Partial years are normally prorated by days worked — for a disputed termination date, check the exact figure with the official MOHRE calculator or a lawyer, since a few days' difference changes the amount.

Practical tip: before disputing the number, pin down your exact start and end dates and the basic salary figure from your contract (not your take-home pay with allowances), then run the formula above — most disputes come down to the employer calculating gratuity from take-home pay instead of basic salary. See our full gratuity guide with worked examples for the math in detail.

Termination and Notice Period

• The minimum notice period under the law is typically 30 days, but the exact figure (in practice ranging from 30 to 90 days) is set in your own contract — check that first before going by general numbers.
• If either side ends the contract without working the full notice period, they owe compensation in lieu for the days not worked.
• Federal Decree-Law No. 33/2021 broadly lets either party end the employment relationship at any time for any reason, provided notice and other obligations (gratuity, unpaid amounts, etc.) are honoured — which has cut down disputes over the "right to terminate" itself, though not over procedure.
• Arbitrary dismissal is a separate category: if you believe you were fired without valid cause or without proper procedure (for example, right after filing a complaint rather than for cause), you can file with MOHRE. If MOHRE or a court finds the dismissal arbitrary, the employer can be ordered to pay compensation — sources mention figures up to 3 months' salary, with the exact amount left to the court's discretion.
• Compensation for arbitrary dismissal is on top of, not instead of, your gratuity, unworked notice, and any other amounts owed — these are separate, non-exclusive claims.
• There are grounds to resign without working notice — for example, if working conditions pose a serious health or safety risk, or the employer materially changes your job without consent — but back these with evidence and talk to a lawyer beforehand so you don't forfeit compensation you'd otherwise be owed.

Free Zones — Different Rules

This is where people most often get it wrong: not every "free zone" falls under MOHRE.

• DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre) and ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market) are financial free zones with fully independent jurisdiction. Each has its own employment law and courts (DIFC Employment Law with its own Employment Tribunal; separate employment regulations and courts at ADGM), run along common-law lines. If your contract is with a company registered in DIFC or ADGM, MOHRE most likely isn't a party to your case at all — your route is the DIFC Courts or ADGM, not the mainland labour court.
• Most other free zones (JAFZA, DAFZA, Dubai Silicon Oasis, and similar) go through the standard MOHRE and mainland labour court route for employment disputes, despite their "free zone" status for business ownership and tax purposes.
• Practical takeaway: before filing anywhere, check which jurisdiction your employer is actually registered in — DIFC/ADGM, or a regular free zone/mainland setup. That decides your entire route: not MOHRE but the zone's own court, different deadlines, different procedure. If it's not obvious (say, the company sits physically in DIFC but your contract is a mainland one), get a lawyer to confirm the jurisdiction — getting this step wrong means wasted time filing with the wrong authority.

Common Mistakes

• Waiting for it to sort itself out. Unpaid salary rarely resolves on its own, and the longer you stay quiet, the harder it gets to prove the timeline and recover money from a company that may be running out of assets.
• Accepting verbal promises from HR with nothing in writing. "We'll pay next week" with no date or signature carries no weight with MOHRE.
• Signing termination paperwork backdated or with an understated salary just to close things out faster — it directly undercuts your gratuity calculation, since that's based on whatever figure ends up in the paperwork.
• Confusing a labour ban (can't be hired by a new employer) with a travel ban — these are different mechanisms run by different authorities; a MOHRE labour dispute by itself doesn't block you from leaving the country unless an absconding case or other restriction has been filed separately.
• Not checking your employer's jurisdiction (DIFC/ADGM vs. MOHRE) before filing — you can burn weeks on a complaint to the wrong body.
• Calculating gratuity from take-home pay instead of basic salary — this almost always produces an inflated figure the employer will contest.
• Sitting on the court filing after MOHRE approves the referral — there's a deadline, and missing it can complicate things further.

When You Need a Lawyer

Filing a MOHRE complaint and going through mediation is genuinely doable without a lawyer — the process is built for employees to handle directly. A lawyer is worth it if: - the claim exceeds AED 50,000 and it's clearly headed to court; - the employer disputes the gratuity calculation, citing "old rules" or a different reading of basic salary; - there are signs of arbitrary dismissal (for example, being fired right after filing a complaint) and you need to establish the connection; - your employer is registered in DIFC/ADGM and you need to work out which court applies and under what rules; - the employer has gone silent entirely, or the company is being wound up — speed and the right order of claims matter here.

We don't guarantee outcomes or timelines — the result depends on the court, the specific evidence, and the employer's position. A lawyer's job is to make sure you don't lose time or slip up on procedure, so your legitimate claims (salary, gratuity, notice compensation) get filed in full and with the right authority.

This material is for information only and is not legal advice. UAE law changes — a lawyer will assess how it applies to your situation.