Emiratisation rules for private companies: targets and contributions

UAE private companies with 50 or more employees must raise the share of Emiratis in skilled jobs by 2 percentage points a year, towards an overall increase of 10% by 2026. Companies with 20 to 49 employees in listed activities across 14 sectors had to hire one Emirati in 2024 and another in 2025. MOHRE, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, charges financial contributions when a target is missed.

Key takeaways

• Companies with 50 or more employees must add 2 percentage points of Emiratis in skilled jobs a year, 1 point each half-year, towards an overall 10% increase by 2026.
• Companies with 20 to 49 employees in listed activities across 14 sectors had to hire one Emirati by the end of 2024 and another by the end of 2025.
• For companies with 50 or more employees, a missed target cost AED 6,000 a month per unfilled position from 2023, rising by AED 1,000 a year, and MOHRE announced AED 10,000 a month from 1 July 2026.
• MOHRE set the minimum monthly wage for Emiratis in the private sector at AED 6,000 from 1 January 2026, with existing salaries to be raised by 30 June 2026; pay goes through WPS, and pension registration is due within one month of the work permit.
• Fake Emiratisation, and other fraud to get around the targets or obtain Nafis support, are violations with their own penalties under Cabinet Resolution No. 95 of 2022.

On this page 10 sections

What Emiratisation means for private companies

Emiratisation is the UAE’s policy of bringing more UAE citizens into work, and in the private sector it runs on hiring targets with a cost attached. The targets come from Cabinet resolutions. MOHRE applies them through ministerial resolutions, checks compliance and charges the contributions, and it works with the Cabinet Secretariat to measure the Emiratisation rate across the private sector.

Nafis, the Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council, runs the national programmes that support Emiratis in private-sector jobs and the companies that hire them. Its platform lists Emirati job seekers and training programmes, and MOHRE points companies to it when they recruit. Companies with strong results can receive incentives: WAM reported that membership of the Emiratisation Partners Club brings discounts on MOHRE service fees and priority access to government procurement.

The detailed rules are in ministerial resolutions listed on u.ae: No. 279 of 2022 on monitoring Emiratisation rates and the contributions, No. 663 of 2022 on compliance, and No. 455 of 2023 on companies with 20 to 49 employees.

Companies with 50 or more employees

A private company with 50 or more employees must raise the share of Emiratis in its skilled jobs by 2 percentage points every year. The target is measured on skilled jobs, and MOHRE’s advertising rules bar companies from posting unskilled roles as Emiratisation vacancies.

Annual target, 50 or more employees

+2% a year (1% per half-year); 10% by 2026

Private-sector establishments with 50 or more employees must raise the share of Emiratis in skilled jobs by 2 percentage points a year, 1 point in each half-year, towards an overall increase of 10% by 2026.

Each half-year has its own deadline. For the first half of 2026 it was 30 June 2026, which MOHRE reaffirmed in a statement carried by the Emirates News Agency (WAM) on 22 June 2026.

Worked example

Target for a company with 200 skilled jobs

The company and its 200 skilled jobs are an illustration, and the number of skilled jobs is assumed to stay the same through the year.

1. The yearly target is 2 percentage points of 200 skilled jobs: 200 × 2% = 4 more Emiratis in skilled roles.
2. Half of it falls in the first half of the year: 200 × 1% = 2 more Emiratis by the first-half deadline.
3. The other 2 are due in the second half of the year.

Illustrative target: 4 more Emiratis a year, 2 in each half-year.

Ministerial Resolution No. 279 of 2022 turns the yearly step into whole people: at least one Emirati for every 50 skilled workers or part of 50. For 200 skilled jobs that is 4, the same as in the example. The resolution and MOHRE’s June 2026 statement do not say how the half-year step is rounded, for example for a company with 150 skilled jobs, where 1% is 1.5 positions.

Counting rule, 50 or more employees

1 Emirati per 50 skilled workers or part of 50, each year

Under Ministerial Resolution No. 279 of 2022, the Emiratisation percentage is calculated from the number of UAE nationals in the establishment against its skilled workers, with at least one citizen employed for every 50 skilled workers or part of 50, for each year of implementation (one citizen for up to 50 skilled workers, two for 51 to 100, three for 101 to 150, and one for every 50 or part of 50 above that). A UAE national counts only with a valid work permit, wages paid through the Wage Protection System or another approved system, registration with an approved pension fund and a contractual relationship that meets the Labour Law.

An Emirati counts towards the rate only with a valid work permit, wages paid through the Wage Protection System, registration with an approved pension fund and a contract that meets the Labour Law.

Companies with 20 to 49 employees

A company with 20 to 49 employees has Emiratisation targets only if it carries on one of the activities listed under 14 sectors. A 2023 Cabinet resolution extended the targets to this group, and MOHRE’s Ministerial Resolution No. 455 of 2023 sets how they apply. Its targets are counted in people, not percentages.

Targets and contributions, 20 to 49 employees

AED 96,000 (2024 target); AED 108,000 (2025 target)

Companies with 20 to 49 workers in 14 selected economic sectors had to hire at least 1 Emirati by the end of 2024 and 1 more by the end of 2025; non-compliant companies pay AED 96,000 (in January 2025, for 2024) and AED 108,000 (in January 2026, for 2025).

Under Resolution No. 455, the contribution can be paid in monthly instalments from the January in which it falls due.

The 14 sectors are: information and communications; financial and insurance activities; real estate; professional, scientific and technical activities; administrative and support services; education; healthcare and social work; arts and entertainment; mining and quarrying; manufacturing; construction; wholesale and retail trade; transportation and warehousing; and hospitality services. The schedule attached to Resolution No. 455 names specific activities within each sector, for example only electrical installations under construction, and says MOHRE updates the list. MOHRE tells the companies it targets through its digital channels. A company of this size outside the listed activities is not covered by the requirement.

Financial contributions for missed targets

A company with 50 or more employees that misses its Emiratisation target pays a financial contribution for each Emirati it should have employed but did not. Companies with 20 to 49 employees pay the yearly amounts set out in the previous section. MOHRE and u.ae call these payments financial contributions, while most people search for them as Emiratisation fines. They are separate from the penalties for fake Emiratisation described further down.

How the contribution is calculated

For companies with 50 or more employees, the contribution is a fixed monthly amount multiplied by the number of positions by which the company falls short of its target. A company that is two Emiratis short pays twice the per-position amount.

Contribution per unfilled position

AED 6,000 a month from 2023, rising AED 1,000 a year

Since 2023, private-sector companies with 50 or more workers that miss their Emiratisation target pay AED 6,000 a month for every Emirati not employed as required, and these contributions increase by AED 1,000 each year until 2026.

Ministerial Resolution No. 279 of 2022 sets the monitoring mechanisms and the contributions. Neither the resolution nor u.ae gives a year-by-year schedule, only the starting amount and the yearly increase. If a company does not pay, the resolution lets MOHRE suspend the issue and renewal of its work permits.

The 2026 rate

MOHRE announced a higher monthly amount for companies with 50 or more employees that missed the first-half 2026 target, starting on 1 July 2026.

Contribution from 1 July 2026

AED 10,000 a month (AED 120,000 a year) per unfilled position

MOHRE said it would start imposing financial contributions on non-compliant companies with 50 or more workers from 1 July 2026 of AED 10,000 a month (AED 120,000 a year) for each position they fail to fill with an Emirati.

Worked example

Contribution for 2 unfilled positions in 2026

The same illustrative company misses its first-half 2026 target by 2 positions. The figures are illustrations, not a prediction of what MOHRE will charge. MOHRE’s statement gives a monthly amount and its yearly equivalent, but not the number of months for which a first-half shortfall is charged.

1. Positions short of the target: 2.
2. Monthly contribution: 2 × AED 10,000 = AED 20,000.
3. Yearly equivalent: 2 × AED 120,000 = AED 240,000, the same as AED 20,000 × 12.

Illustrative contribution: AED 20,000 a month, or AED 240,000 a year at that rate.

Hiring an Emirati: what the employer must do

Hiring an Emirati brings duties beyond the target: a national work permit, a contract under MOHRE’s rules, a salary of at least the Emirati minimum, and pension registration within a month. u.ae lists them in its section on compliance with Emiratisation rules, which cites Ministerial Resolution No. 663 of 2022; the minimum wage itself is a later MOHRE decision, in force from 1 January 2026.

Work permit, contract and WPS

The permit and the contract go through MOHRE, and the salary is paid through the Wage Protection System (WPS).

Employer obligations when hiring Emiratis

Pension registration within 1 month of the work permit

When hiring an Emirati, the employer must obtain a UAE national work permit from MOHRE, conclude an employment contract under MOHRE's rules, pay the salary through the Wage Protection System, register the Emirati in the pensions and social security system and start contributing within one month of the work permit being issued, and report contract changes that affect eligibility for Nafis benefits; it must cancel the work permit immediately when the contract ends, and it may not pay Emiratis less than counterparts in the same position or cut their salaries because they receive government support.

The employer must also give the employee a suitable workplace, the tools for the job and the minimum training needed to do it. How wages move through the Wage Protection System, and what happens when they are late, is covered in paying salaries through WPS. The wider rules on ending a contract are in resignation and termination.

Most Emiratis in private-sector jobs must also subscribe to ILOE unemployment insurance, on the same terms as other employees.

Emiratis have duties too. They must follow the Labour Law and its implementing rules, the Nafis programme decisions and their own contract, and tell MOHRE about practices that break the Emiratisation resolutions.

Minimum salary

An Emirati in a private-sector job must be paid at least the minimum monthly wage MOHRE set for UAE nationals.

Minimum wage for Emiratis

AED 6,000 a month

MOHRE has set the minimum monthly wage for Emiratis working in the private sector at AED 6,000, effective 1 January 2026.

MOHRE said the minimum applies to Emirati work permits issued, renewed or amended from 1 January 2026, and gave employers until 30 June 2026 to raise the pay of Emiratis hired before that date. From 1 July 2026, it said, measures would apply to employers that had not done so, including no longer counting those Emiratis towards the employer’s Emiratisation target and suspending the employer’s new work permits until salaries comply.

Transition to the AED 6,000 minimum

Existing salaries adjusted by 30 June 2026; measures from 1 July 2026

MOHRE's minimum monthly wage of AED 6,000 for Emiratis in the private sector applies to new citizen work permits and to those renewed or amended from 1 January 2026; establishments that employed Emiratis before that date may adjust their salaries to the new minimum by 30 June 2026, and from 1 July 2026 MOHRE said it would apply measures to non-compliant establishments, including no longer counting Emiratis whose salaries remain unadjusted towards Emiratisation targets and suspending new work permits until salaries comply.

u.ae’s page on contract types, updated in August 2026, still gives a separate minimum for the national student contract, covered in the next section.

Pension registration

End-of-service benefits for Emiratis in the private sector follow the pensions legislation, not the Labour Law formula behind the end-of-service gratuity for expatriate staff. The contribution rates depend on which pensions law covers the employee. u.ae states the rates under the 1999 pensions law:

Pension contributions, 1999 law

20% of salary (5% employee, 12.5% employer, 2.5% government)

Under Federal Decree-Law No. 7 of 1999 for Pensions and Social Security and its amendments, a monthly contribution of 20% of an Emirati employee's salary is paid to the General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA): 5% by the employee, 12.5% by the employer and 2.5% by the government.

Federal Law No. 57 of 2023, which GPSSA publishes, took effect on 31 October 2023 and applies to Emiratis who start working for an employer from that date. Emiratis already insured under the 1999 law stay under it, and so do pensioners and gratuity recipients under the 1999 law who take a new job.

Pension contributions, 2023 law

11% employee, 15% employer (government bears 2.5% of the employer's share below AED 20,000)

Under Federal Law No. 57 of 2023 on Pension and Social Security, which applies to an insured Emirati who starts working for an employer from its effective date of 31 October 2023, the monthly contribution is 11% of the contribution account salary, deducted by the employer from the insured's salary, plus 15% paid by the employer; for private-sector employers, the government bears 2.5% of the employer's share for Emiratis whose contribution account salary is less than AED 20,000.

Under the 2023 law, contributions for private-sector staff are based on the salary in the employment contract, within a minimum and maximum the law sets, and are paid monthly, by the 15th of the following month. GPSSA’s registration service covers private employers in every emirate except Abu Dhabi.

National student employment contracts

A company can count an Emirati student towards its Emiratisation percentage by hiring them on a national student employment contract.

National student contract

At least AED 4,000 a month

A national student employment contract, for Emirati students enrolled in programmes approved by Nafis, is a full-time, one-year renewable contract with a salary of at least AED 4,000 a month, and it counts towards the company's Emiratisation percentage.

The student must be enrolled in a programme approved and supported by Nafis, in professions and specialties set by MOHRE. The contract can be renewed each year, if both sides agree, until the student graduates. After graduating, the Emirati must stay with the same employer, in a job in the same specialty, for at least as long as the study period, on the standard contract for nationals in the private sector. The rules are in Ministerial Resolution No. 240 of 2023. MOHRE’s December 2025 announcement of the AED 6,000 minimum does not mention national student contracts.

Fake Emiratisation and other violations

Fake Emiratisation, and other fraud aimed at getting around the targets or obtaining Nafis support, carries administrative penalties separate from the contributions for missed targets. Cabinet Resolution No. 95 of 2022 sets out the violations and the penalties, which vary with the nature of the violation. The violations it lists include:

• fake Emiratisation and other fraud to obtain Nafis benefits or get around the targets
• an Emirati not joining work after the work permit is issued while the company keeps receiving Nafis support
• irregular attendance, or absence from work that the company does not report to Nafis
• a beneficiary dropping a training or study programme for reasons the council does not accept
• the company not reporting, without an acceptable reason, changes that affect eligibility for Nafis benefits

Ministerial Resolution No. 296 of 2023 sets the criteria for imposing the administrative fines, and MOHRE says it finds violations through digital and field inspections.

MOHRE also controls how Emiratisation jobs are advertised. A company must not post unskilled jobs or misleading advertisements that do not reflect real skilled vacancies, refer to government Emiratisation policies and their benefits without MOHRE’s prior approval, or publish information on the government incentives and support programmes for nationals in the private sector.

Anyone can report a violation to MOHRE through its call centre on 600590000, its app or its website.

Emiratisation rules at a glance

Two groups of companies have hiring targets, and every employer of an Emirati has pay and pension duties.

Rules on hiring, paying and letting staff go are in the Employment and payroll guides.