Employees working abroad: UAE employer duties
Reviewed by Mellow Editorial Team, HR & payroll content team
Sending a UAE-based employee to work abroad does not end your obligations as their employer — in most cases UAE labour law, payroll requirements and end-of-service entitlements continue to apply for as long as the employment contract is governed by UAE law.
What "working abroad" actually means in this context
There is a practical difference between an employee on a short business trip, one on a temporary secondment of several months, and one who has effectively relocated permanently while remaining on your UAE payroll.
The duration and structure matter because they affect which country's employment law applies, whether a new work permit is needed in the host country, and whether local social-security or tax obligations arise for the employee or for you as the employer.
As a general rule, if the employee retains a UAE employment contract and is paid through your UAE entity, UAE law continues to govern the relationship. However, many countries impose their own employment protections on anyone working on their soil for more than a defined period — sometimes as short as 30 days. You need to check the host country's rules separately for every assignment.
Continuing UAE payroll obligations
Salary must still be processed through the Wage Protection System (WPS) if the employee is paid in dirhams into a UAE bank account. WPS applies to employers registered with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE), regardless of where the employee is physically located.
There is no personal income tax on salaries in the UAE, so nothing changes on that front from the UAE side. What may change is the employee's tax position in the host country. Some countries treat physical presence beyond a certain threshold as creating a taxable employment or even a permanent establishment for the company. This is the employer's risk to manage, not just the employee's — if your company is deemed to have a taxable presence in another country because of a staff member working there, corporate tax consequences can follow. Take local advice before any assignment exceeds 90 days in a single jurisdiction.
End-of-service gratuity continues to accrue
Under Federal Decree-Law No. 33/2021, end-of-service gratuity accrues on the employee's basic wage throughout their employment. Working abroad does not pause or reset that entitlement. The calculation remains:
- 21 days' basic wage per year for the first five years of service
- 30 days' basic wage per year for every subsequent year
- Capped at two years' total pay
If the employee's basic wage changes during the overseas assignment — for example, if you add a location allowance that is explicitly classified as basic pay — this will affect the final gratuity calculation. Be deliberate about how you structure any assignment allowances in the contract and payroll records.
Annual leave and other statutory entitlements
Employees on UAE contracts retain their entitlement to 30 calendar days of annual leave per year after the first year of service, as well as any other statutory entitlements under UAE labour law. An overseas assignment does not reduce or suspend this.
If the employee is subject to mandatory leave accrual rules in the host country as well, you may face a situation where two sets of entitlements appear to apply simultaneously. In practice, most companies handle this by granting the more generous of the two, but the right approach depends on the host country's rules and the contract terms. Document the position clearly in the assignment letter before the employee travels.
Assignment letters and contract structuring
A standalone employment contract is rarely enough for an overseas assignment. An assignment letter — sometimes called a secondment agreement — should set out:
- The duration and location of the assignment
- Which country's law governs the employment relationship
- How base salary, allowances and benefits are structured and paid
- What happens at the end of the assignment (return to UAE role, contract termination, or local hire in the host country)
- Who is responsible for any host-country immigration, tax or social-security filings
If the employee will be seconded to a client or a group entity in another country, a separate inter-company agreement is usually needed alongside the assignment letter. Without this, the host entity may inadvertently become a co-employer in the eyes of the local regulator.
Nationals enrolled in GPSSA
UAE and GCC nationals employed on UAE contracts continue their pension contributions under the General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA) scheme during an overseas assignment, provided the employment remains governed by UAE law. Both the employer and employee contributions continue as normal. Expatriate employees are not enrolled in GPSSA and this point does not apply to them.
Keeping the paperwork clean from the start — assignment letter, payroll structure, host-country compliance check — is far less costly than unwinding a situation where obligations were assumed rather than confirmed.
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