Domestic workers: a separate law, and a gap in it

Housemaids, nannies, drivers, cooks and other household staff are not covered by the federal labour law used everywhere else on this site. They have their own decree-law — and on the question people most often ask, the gratuity, that law sends the answer elsewhere.

Which law applies

Article 3(2)(c) of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 excludes domestic workers from the labour law. Their employment is governed by Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 concerning domestic workers, together with its implementing regulation and decisions of the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation. MOHRE regulates both regimes, which is part of why they get confused.

The calculator on this site applies Article 51 of the labour law. It does not apply to domestic workers, and the figure it produces should not be used for one.

The gratuity question

Article 22 of the domestic workers law is short. In the English translation published alongside the law, it reads: "On the Minister's recommendation, the UAE Cabinet shall adopt the rules and regulations for calculation and payment of end of service gratuity for domestic workers."

That is the whole article. Unlike Article 51 of the labour law, it does not itself set a formula — no number of days per year, no threshold, no cap. It leaves those rules to a Cabinet decision.

What we could and could not verify

Many websites state a domestic-worker gratuity of 14 days' basic wage for each year of service. That figure comes from the earlier domestic workers law of 2017, which the 2022 decree-law replaced. We have not been able to find a published Cabinet decision under Article 22 that sets the current rules, and some UAE lawyers have written that, without one, the basis of the entitlement is unclear. We are not going to give you a number we cannot source. If you employ or are employed as a domestic worker, ask MOHRE — directly, and in writing if you can — what rule it currently applies, and keep the answer.

What the law does say clearly

Unused annual leave is paid out

Article 10(1) gives a domestic worker annual leave of not less than 30 days for each year of service, and two days per month for service of more than six months but less than a year. Article 10(5): when the contract ends or is terminated, the worker is entitled to cash in lieu of unused leave, "calculated on the basis of the last remuneration received". Note the difference from the labour law, which pays unused leave on basic wage only.

The employer must also pay for a return ticket for annual leave in the worker's home country once every two years (Article 10(4)).

Payment within ten days

Article 19(9): when the employment contract expires, the employer "shall pay the domestic worker's compensation within (10) ten days from the contract expiry date", as specified in the implementing regulation. That is shorter than the 14 days the labour law gives private-sector employers.

Repatriation

If the contract is ended for reasons not attributable to the worker, the employer pays the worker's due compensation and the cost of repatriation to the home country (Article 20(2)).
If the worker, after probation, ends the contract for reasons attributable to them and was recruited directly, the worker bears the cost of repatriation — but the employer must cover it where the worker cannot (Article 20(3)(a)). Workers recruited through an agency are subject to the agency provisions in Article 5.
If the worker joins a new employer, the original employer is not liable for repatriation (Article 21(2)).
On death or total disability, the employer bears the cost of repatriating the worker (Article 19(2)), and the heirs are entitled to the wages for the month of death in addition to other entitlements.

When a contract ends without fault

Article 19 lists the situations in which the contract ends without either side being at fault: expiry, death or total disability of the worker, death of the employer (unless the family and worker agree to continue), the worker's conviction or imprisonment, mutual consent, exhaustion of sick leave or medical unfitness, and absence of more than 10 consecutive or 15 intermittent days in a year without valid reason.

Disputes: the three-month limit

This is the single most important practical point on this page.

Article 26(2)

"A lawsuit concerning any of the entitlements referred to under the provisions of this Decree-Law shall not be heard after the lapse of three months from the date of termination of the employment relationship." Three months — not the two years that applies to labour-law claims after the 2024 amendments. A domestic worker who leaves and waits will lose the right to bring the claim at all.

A dispute goes first to MOHRE, which tries to resolve it amicably and refers it to the competent court if that fails within the period the implementing regulation sets (Article 23). Actions brought by domestic workers are exempt from judicial fees throughout, and are to be expedited (Article 26(3)).

A practical example

A nanny's two-year contract expires and is not renewed. Her monthly salary is 3,000 AED, and she has 18 days of leave untaken from the second year.

Leave in lieu: on a 30-day month, 3,000 ÷ 30 = 100 AED a day; 18 × 100 = 1,800 AED, on her last remuneration (Article 10(5))
Final salary to the last day, in full
Repatriation ticket, as the contract ended by expiry rather than through her fault
Any end-of-service gratuity, on whatever basis MOHRE confirms currently applies
All of it within ten days of the expiry date (Article 19(9)); if not paid, a complaint to MOHRE well within three months

For employers

The same points read the other way. Keep a written record of leave taken and of every payment, and pay the settlement within ten days of the contract ending. If you are unsure what end-of-service amount to pay, MOHRE is the authority to ask, and a written answer protects both of you.

Questions

Does the UAE labour law apply to housemaids and drivers?

No. Article 3(2)(c) of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 excludes domestic workers. They are covered by Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022.

Is a domestic worker entitled to gratuity?

Article 22 of the 2022 law leaves the calculation and payment of gratuity to rules to be adopted by the Cabinet. We have not found a published decision setting those rules, so we do not state a formula. Ask MOHRE what it currently applies.

How long does a domestic worker have to bring a claim?

Three months from the end of the employment relationship, under Article 26(2) of the domestic workers law as published. Raise it with MOHRE immediately.

Published 2026-10-18 and reviewed against Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 concerning domestic workers, as published. General guidance, not legal advice — see the disclaimer.