The UAE recently announced some major updates to its employment laws in order to more clearly define the rights and obligations of both employers and employees.

One of these notable changes is that companies should not hire workers who are in the UAE on a visit visa.

So if you’re visiting and you are offered a job, you should not work if you enter the country on a visit visa, even if your employer promises a future residency permit. Instead, the employer should go through the proper channels right from the start.

The UAE government clearly specifies on its website that it is illegal to work under a visit or tourist visa. Expats who are offered employment in the UAE are only permitted to begin working once the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) has issued an official offer letter.

The decree imposes fines between Dhs100,000 to a whopping Dhs1 million on any employer who employs workers without a proper permit.

Other updates include hiring workers or bringing them to the country without providing them with a job, misusing work permits, or shutting down a business without settling workers’ rights.

Doing any of the above means that the company will be in violation of the decree and its executive regulations. The same penalties apply to the illegal employment of minors or allowing minors to work in violation of the law by their guardians.

All of this has been introduced to ensure employees (and potential employees) are protected by law.