Want to outsource employees internationally in the UAE, without setting up a local entity? An Employer of Record makes that possible. You hire the talent and they will handle the legal employment for you.
This article walks you through the EOR providers available in the UAE, so you can see what is out there and find the right fit for your team.
What an EOR Helps With?
To hire in the UAE on your own, you have several options. You can establish a mainland LLC, which typically costs between AED 30,000 and AED 100,000 and takes four to eight weeks to set up. Another option is registering in a free zone. Its costs generally range from AED 15,000 to AED 50,000 with a setup timeline of two to four weeks.
Because of the cost, timeline, and compliance requirements, many businesses choose an Employer of Record (EOR). An EOR lets you hire in as little as five to ten business days without setting up a local entity. The provider also manages payroll compliance, taxation, Emiratization requirements, and visa sponsorship on your behalf.
Here’s more on what an EOR helps you with:
- Drafting and registering compliant employment contracts with MOHRE
- Managing payroll, salary structuring, and statutory deductions
- Calculating leave entitlements, including annual, sick, and parental leave
- Handling end-of-service gratuity for foreign employees
- Managing terminations, notice periods, and severance under UAE labour law
- Ensuring workplace policies meet health, safety, and anti-discrimination standards
Employment Regulations in the UAE
Employment in the UAE is governed by Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021. Here is what an EOR handles for you:
Employment Contracts
Every employee needs a written, fixed-term contract, capped at three years, and registered with MOHRE. It needs to cover the job title, salary, working hours, and leave. Probation is capped at six months. Termination terms, gratuity, and any non-compete clause, up to two years, all go in too. And yes, it has to be in both Arabic and English. Your EOR drafts and registers all of this, so you do not have to learn MOHRE's system from scratch.
Working Hours and Overtime
Standard hours sit at nine per day, or 45 per week. During Ramadan, everyone gets two hours off, regardless of religion. Overtime cannot go beyond two hours a day, or 144 hours every three weeks. On regular days, overtime pays 125 percent of the hourly rate. On weekends and holidays, that jumps to 150 percent. Your EOR monitors everything, so nothing is overlooked.
Wage Protection System (WPS)
All salaries must be paid through banks or exchange houses authorised by MOHRE. If less than 70 percent of your staff are paid through WPS, new work permits get blocked. Violations carry fines of up to AED 100,000 each. Your EOR ensures every payroll run goes through WPS correctly, so this never becomes your problem.
Paid Leave
An EOR keeps track of all the leaves under UAE law. There are 33 categories of paid leave. Annual leave starts at 30 days a year. If someone has worked six months to a year, it works out to two days per month. Sick leave runs for 90 days after probation: 15 days at full pay, 30 at half, and 45 unpaid. Maternity leave is 60 days paid. Paternity leave is five days. And dismissal during pregnancy is off the table.
Gratuity
Under Article 51, foreign employees earn gratuity pay: 21 days for each of the first five years, then 30 days per year after that. National employees fall under separate pension rules. Your EOR works out this liability and pays it correctly when the time comes.
Tax Obligations
In the UAE, there is no personal income tax. The only deduction is a pension fund contribution, and your EOR builds this into payroll automatically.
Termination and Severance
Employers can terminate for valid, provable reasons, resignation, mutual consent, misconduct, probation failure, or contract expiry. Notice periods range from 14 to 90 days, depending on what the contract says. Gross misconduct under Article 44 allows termination without notice. There is no separate severance pay, but employees registered with the GPSSA get a pension instead. Your EOR gets your employees registered and makes sure every termination follows the correct process, every time.
EOR Providers in the UAE
In this section, we have listed five EOR providers that you can consider teaming up with. For a detailed breakdown of our methodology, you can read more here.
1. Recruitgo
Headquartered in Dubai, Recruitgo offers a remote hiring platform and Employer of Record services in 40 countries, including UAE. If you are running a lean team, RecruitGo's pricing model is worth a closer look. Their pricing model is what brings the clients back. Instead of a flat monthly fee per employee, you pay a percentage of the total employer cost, gross salary plus contributions. The fee is 10 percent, with a $49.99 minimum and a $250 cap per employee per month. Beyond pricing, the platform also drafts MOHRE-compliant contracts, manages payroll, gratuity, and leave under Federal Decree-Law No. 33. Moreover, you get local teams on the ground to support your employees.
Pricing Example: Say you are hiring someone on AED 8,000 a month, around $2,180. A 10 percent fee comes to roughly $218, still under the cap. Now picture a 10-person team at this salary level. With Recruitgo, you would pay around $2,180 a month in total fees. With a flat-fee provider charging $499 to $599 per head, that same team would cost you $4,990 to $5,990. The difference adds up fast.
With Recruitgo, you get:
- Compliant contract drafting and MOHRE registration handled end to end
- Payroll processed in AED, with gratuity and leave built in
- Calculators specifically built for the UAE market
- Local, in-country teams, not remote-only account management
- Fees scale with salary, capped at $250 per employee monthly
- Onboarding usually completed within a few business days
- Remote team setup support, including local talent and infrastructure
If your priority is keeping costs proportional as your UAE team grows rather than paying the same fee for every hire regardless of salary, Recruitgo is the right choice.
2. Atlas HXM
Founded in 2005, Atlas HXM offers complete EOR and human experience management services. They own their own entities, in over 160 countries, including the UAE. Since Atlas itself is your legal employer, their team handles both MOHRE registration and visa sponsorship directly. You also get a mobile app and self-service tools.
- Fully-owned direct EOR model across all markets
- Enterprise-grade technology platform with mobile app
- Extensive coverage across 160 or more countries
- Backed by $220 million in funding
- Recognised by leading industry analysts
- Premium pricing, starting at $599 per employee monthly
- Built for medium to large enterprises
Atlas is currently offering a limited-time rate of $499 per employee per month, reduced from its standard pricing of $599. However, for smaller teams, the cost still exceeds budget expectations. In that case, alternatives such as Recruitgo are a better fit, offering scalable pricing that grows alongside your team.
3. Career Pond
If your hiring plans stretch beyond the Gulf and into Asia, Career Pond could be your bridge. They operate across 13 Asian markets and blend Western and Asian business practices in a way that works well for UAE-based teams looking eastward. Onboarding takes just 48 hours, and you will not need to set up a local entity anywhere.
- Onboarding completed within 48 hours
- Presence across 13 Asian markets
- Blends Western and Asian business expertise
- No local entity setup required
- Strong grasp of cross-cultural business practices
- Complete employment support services
CareerPond is a strong option if you want to hire across Asia in the UAE, particularly when speed is a priority. That said, its services are primarily focused on Asian markets, and service quality varies depending on the country. You should also consider potential time zone differences when managing teams from Western regions.
4. EOR Middle East
With its headquarters located in Dubai, EOR Middle East offers a comprehensive range of services across multiple countries in the Middle East and surrounding markets. They cover 12 countries: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Oman, Bahrain, Libya, Turkey, Kuwait, and Qatar. Its flat-rate price of $300 per employee per month makes the cost predictable, especially if you're recruiting in multiple Middle Eastern markets. What stands out is their direct visa sponsorship across multiple countries, backed by strong local networks and authority relationships. If your team needs support in both Arabic and English, that is covered too.
- Specialised expertise across Middle Eastern markets
- Direct visa sponsorship in multiple countries
- Established local networks and authority relationships
- Customisable HR solutions for different business needs
- Quick setup and onboarding
- Bilingual support in Arabic and English
If you want to hire across multiple MENA markets simultaneously, EOR Middle East is a practical choice. However, you will find its geographic focus limiting, if you plan to hire outside the region as your business grows.
5. Masdar EOR
If your hiring plans are focused within the GCC, Masdar EOR provides services tailored specifically for those markets. They cover six countries, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain, which means deep, targeted expertise rather than a thin layer spread across the globe. In these six markets, you do not need to set up a legal entity and local labour law compliance is built-in. You can also get an estimate of their service costs using their online cost calculator before you commit.
- Deep expertise across six GCC markets
- No need for local legal entities
- Built-in compliance with local labour laws
- Transparent pricing via online cost calculator
- Quick employee onboarding
- Combined payroll and HR administration
If you need strong local expertise across a focused set of markets within GCC, Masdar is a decent choice. However, the platform is designed specifically for the Middle East and is therefore less suitable for if you want to expand to other regions.
Before making a decision, take the time to evaluate your hiring goals, target markets, compliance requirements, and budget. Each provider listed above offers different strengths, pricing models, geographic coverage, and levels of support. Visit each provider’s website to explore their services in more detail, compare features, and speak with their teams if needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Get quick answers to common questions about employer of record (eor) providers for businesses in the uae in 2026
QCan my UAE employee work remotely from another country?
Technically, yes, but it gets complicated fast. UAE residence visas require the holder to enter the country at least once every 180 days. Stay away too long, and the visa can lapse. Long remote stints abroad can also raise tax questions in that other country. Your EOR should flag this before it becomes a problem, not after.
QWho owns the work my employee creates while employed through an EOR?
Your EOR is the legal employer, so IP rights start with them. But good providers build in assignment clauses, both in the employment contract and in their agreement with you. The result: IP flows from the employee to the EOR, then straight to your company. This protection continues even after the employee leaves.
QWhat is the difference between mainland and free zone employment in the UAE?
Mainland employment runs through MOHRE and follows the federal Labour Law covered earlier in this guide. Free zones like the DIFC operate under their own employment law, based on common law principles, and it differs quite a bit from the mainland rules. If your EOR only operates on the mainland, make sure that matches where your employee will actually be based.
QDo I need a minimum number of employees to use an EOR?
No. Most EORs will work with just one employee. You do not need five, ten, or a hundred. This makes EOR a natural fit for a first hire in the UAE, not just for teams scaling up.
QWhat happens if I want to move my employee to my own entity later?
Many companies hire through the EOR first, then transfer the employee once they set up their own UAE entity. Ask any provider upfront how this transition works, so there are no surprises if and when you get there. With Recruitgo, you get an advantage. Its parent company, Emerhub, specialises in company formation across Asia and the Middle East. With them, you can easily transition from EOR support to setting up your own legal entity when you’re ready.
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Mahnoor Jehanzeb specializes in global employment law and EOR solutions. With years of experience in the industry, they help businesses navigate the complexities of international hiring.
