Sick pay in the United Arab Emirates: what employers must provide
Reviewed by Mellow Editorial Team, HR & payroll content team
Sick pay in the UAE is governed by Federal Decree-Law No. 33/2021, which sets out a tiered entitlement based on how long an employee has been off sick within a single year of service. Employers must follow this structure regardless of what a contract says — any contractual term that gives less than the statutory minimum is void.
The statutory sick leave entitlement
An employee becomes eligible for sick leave after completing their probationary period. Once that threshold is passed, the entitlement for each year of service is structured in three bands:
- First 15 days: full basic wage plus any allowances (i.e. full pay)
- Next 30 days: half pay
- Any further sick days in that year: unpaid
So the maximum statutory sick leave in any one year of service is 90 days. After 90 days, the employer is entitled to terminate the employment — but only after following the correct procedure.
This entitlement resets at the start of each new year of service, not on a calendar-year basis.
What counts as the "year of service"
The year runs from the employee's start date (or anniversary date), not from 1 January. That matters in practice because it affects when the 15/30/45-day counter resets. If an employee joins in September 2025, their sick-leave year resets each September, regardless of when the illness occurs.
Keep this in mind when managing someone who has been on sick leave across two annual cycles. Days taken in year one do not carry forward to year two.
Medical certification requirements
The law does not prescribe an exact number of days before a certificate is required, so it is worth including a clear policy in your employment contract or staff handbook. Common practice is to require:
- A certificate from a licensed medical practitioner for absences of two or more consecutive days
- A certificate from a government-approved or employer-designated healthcare provider for longer absences
If an employee refuses to provide certification when asked, you have grounds to treat the absence as unauthorised and withhold pay accordingly. Document every request and response carefully.
Sick leave during probation
Employees on probation have no statutory entitlement to paid sick leave under Federal Decree-Law No. 33/2021. If an employee falls seriously ill during probation, the employer may choose to grant paid leave as a goodwill measure, but is not legally obliged to do so. The probationary period can also be extended by the number of days the employee was absent, provided both parties agree and the total probation — including any extension — does not exceed six months.
Termination related to sickness
An employer cannot terminate an employee solely because they are on sick leave during the first 90 days of that sick leave period. Once the 90-day maximum has been exhausted, termination becomes permissible, but the employee still has rights:
- They must receive any accrued annual leave pay (30 calendar days per year after one year of service)
- They are entitled to end-of-service gratuity, calculated at 21 days' basic wage per year for the first five years and 30 days' per year thereafter, capped at two years' total pay — as set out in Federal Decree-Law No. 33/2021
- Notice obligations or payment in lieu of notice still apply unless the contract specifies otherwise
Terminating someone before the 90 days are up — or framing a capability dismissal as one triggered by the illness itself — exposes the employer to an arbitrary dismissal claim at the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE).
Practical steps for employers
A few things worth putting in place before you need them:
Write a clear absence policy. Define how employees report sickness (who they call, by what time), when a certificate is required, and how pay will be calculated across the three bands. Make this part of the onboarding pack.
Track absences against the right reference period. Because entitlement runs by year of service, not calendar year, your payroll system needs to track each employee's anniversary date and running sick-day total against it. If you run payroll through the Wage Protection System (WPS), ensure your records feed into it accurately — how Mellow runs payroll across six countries shows how automated tracking can reduce manual errors here.
Apply the pay bands correctly. Full pay in the UAE context means basic wage plus contractual allowances (housing, transport, etc.). Some employers mistakenly calculate sick pay on basic wage alone for the first 15 days — that is not compliant.
Keep records. MOHRE inspections can request documentation on sick leave administration. Maintain signed copies of medical certificates, correspondence about absences, and payslips that clearly show the sick pay calculation applied.
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