Domestic Worker Rights in UAE

Domestic workers in the UAE are excluded from the main Labour Law (FDL 33/2021) and are governed instead by Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022, which came into force on 15 December 2022 and was amended by FDL 21/2023. The protections are real, but weaker than those for mainstream workers — and the enforcement path runs through MoHRE rather than the standard Labour Court.

• 19 recognised domestic worker professions are covered, including housemaids, cooks, drivers, nannies (child carers), gardeners, residential guards, home nurses, agricultural workers, and others.
• Minimum age: 18 years (Article 4). Hiring anyone younger is illegal.
• Working hours: up to 12 hours per day with 8 consecutive hours of rest. Note this is weaker than the 8-hour day standard for mainstream private-sector workers under FDL 33/2021.
• Weekly rest day: 1 day per week (Friday is preferred but not mandatory). If the worker is required to work on the rest day, they must be given either an alternate day off or cash compensation.
• Annual leave: 30 days paid after 1 year of service. If the contract ends before leave is taken, the worker must be paid cash in lieu.
• Sick leave: 30 days per year (consecutive or spread), supported by medical documentation from an approved UAE health authority.
• Wages: paid monthly per contract, within 10 days of the due date. There is no statutory minimum wage — the figure is contractually determined. Wages must be paid in AED through official channels.
• Employer obligations (Article 11): adequate housing, food, appropriate clothing; medical care or health insurance; a return ticket to the home country on contract end or termination; no fees may be charged to the worker; and the worker's passport must remain with the worker — confiscation is expressly prohibited.
• Death in service: a full month's wages plus all entitlements are paid to the worker's heirs.
• Transfer (Article 21): a domestic worker may transfer to a new employer if contractual requirements with the first employer are fulfilled. MoHRE approval is required. Employer consent is the standard route during the contract term, but MoHRE may approve transfer without consent in documented abuse or wage-violation cases.
• End-of-service gratuity: typically 14 to 21 days of basic wage per year of service, depending on the contract and employer. This is the standard DW formula and is lower than the 21/30-day mainstream Article 51 rates.
• WPS: Ministerial Resolution 675/2022 extended WPS to certain domestic worker professions — but not all categories are covered. Confirm your profession code with MoHRE.

Dispute resolution: complaints go to MoHRE first, not the standard Labour Court. Either party may escalate to the Court of Appeals within 15 working days of the MoHRE decision. The MoHRE hotline is 800 60 (24-hour Arabic/English); Tasheel service centres also accept complaints. Workers from sending countries may also contact their embassies — the Philippines POLO offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the India Indian Workers Resource Centre helpline, and the Indonesia BNP2TKI helpdesk are active resources.

Worked example. Maria, a Filipino nanny in Dubai on AED 1,800/month, has gone 2 months unpaid and her employer has taken her passport. She calls 800 60, files a complaint, and requests a reference number. MoHRE contacts the employer. Because passport confiscation is expressly prohibited under Article 11(11), the passport must be returned immediately. The employer faces penalties for both the confiscation and the wage arrears — and Maria has grounds to transfer to a new employer without her current employer's consent.