Paying seasonal and temporary staff in the United Arab Emirates
Reviewed by Mellow Editorial Team, HR & payroll content team
Temporary and seasonal workers in the UAE are covered by the same core labour law as permanent employees — the rules on gratuity, leave and wage payment apply regardless of contract type. What differs is how you structure the contract and calculate entitlements for shorter tenures.
What the law says about fixed-term and temporary contracts
Federal Decree-Law No. 33/2021 replaced open-ended contracts with a mandatory fixed-term model for all employees. Every worker — including seasonal and temporary staff — must be on a fixed-term contract with a defined end date. The maximum term is three years, and contracts can be renewed.
This matters practically: if a seasonal worker's contract expires and they are not renewed, that is a legitimate end of employment. There is no obligation to make a worker permanent after repeated renewals, but you must document each contract properly and ensure the end date is honoured or formally extended before it lapses.
Registering and onboarding temporary workers
Before a temporary hire can legally work in the UAE, you need to address three things:
Work permit and visa. Every expatriate employee requires a valid UAE residence visa and work permit sponsored by your company (or, in free zones, by the relevant free zone authority). For short-term seasonal work, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) does offer temporary work permits, typically for periods under six months. You apply through the MOHRE portal. Be aware that processing takes time — plan your hiring timeline accordingly.
Employment contract registration. MOHRE contracts must be filed and attested for mainland employees. Free zone employees follow the procedures of their specific authority. A contract that exists only on paper, without being registered, leaves you exposed if a dispute arises.
Onboarding documentation. Collect passport copies, visa documentation and Emirates ID. These are required to add an employee to your payroll and to register them on the Wage Protection System.
Paying wages through the WPS
All UAE employers on the mainland are required to pay salaries via the Wage Protection System. The WPS is a Central Bank-monitored electronic transfer system that records every salary payment and flags delays. There is no personal income tax on salaries, so your gross payment is what the worker receives.
Practical points for seasonal staff:
- Register the employee with your WPS-approved payroll agent or bank before their first pay date.
- Pay on or before the contractual pay date — delays trigger automatic penalties.
- Keep pay records for each pay cycle. MOHRE inspectors can request them.
Free zone employees may be subject to the free zone's own payroll requirements rather than MOHRE's WPS, though many free zones align with the same system.
Calculating end-of-service gratuity for short tenures
This is where most employers of temporary staff make mistakes. Gratuity is not just a permanent-employee benefit — it applies to any worker who completes at least one year of continuous service.
Under Federal Decree-Law No. 33/2021, the calculation is:
- 21 days' basic wage per year of service for the first five years
- 30 days' basic wage per year of service from year six onwards
- The total is capped at two years' total pay
For a seasonal worker on a three-month contract, no gratuity is owed — they have not reached one year. For someone on consecutive seasonal contracts that together exceed one year of continuous service, entitlement accrues. The key word is continuity: if you rehire the same person each season without a meaningful break in employment, a court or MOHRE may treat the tenure as continuous. Document any genuine breaks clearly.
Gratuity is calculated on basic wage only, not on allowances or commissions.
Annual leave and other entitlements
Temporary staff who complete one full year of service are entitled to 30 calendar days of annual leave. For workers who leave before completing a year, proportional leave pay is due if they have completed at least six months of service.
Sick leave entitlements also apply to fixed-term employees under the same statutory rules as permanent staff. There is no reduced entitlement simply because the contract is short.
One area that does not apply to most seasonal workers: the GPSSA pension scheme. This covers UAE and GCC nationals only. Expatriate temporary staff are not enrolled in any statutory pension — gratuity is their sole end-of-service benefit.
Ending the contract and avoiding disputes
When a fixed-term contract reaches its end date and is not renewed, it terminates automatically. You are not required to give a redundancy notice in the same way as early termination — but you must:
- Pay all outstanding wages, including any accrued leave pay, within 14 days of the last working day
- Pay gratuity if entitlement has been reached
- Process visa cancellation and arrange a grace period for the worker to depart or transfer sponsorship
Failing to cancel the visa promptly can result in overstay fines that MOHRE may hold you responsible for. Build the offboarding process into your seasonal workforce calendar, not as an afterthought at the end of peak season.
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