TALENT & HR · 03
Employer of Record & Payroll
A route into the UAE market without incorporating first. Your chosen people are employed and sponsored on our licence, paid compliantly each month, and directed entirely by you. Suited to overseas companies testing the region and to local firms whose visa quota has run out.
What an employer of record does, and does not do
Under this arrangement we hold the employment relationship: the labour contract, the residence visa, the medical insurance, the monthly payroll and the end-of-service gratuity. You choose the person, set the work, manage performance and decide when the engagement ends.
What it does not do is replace a legal entity forever. Companies with a growing UAE presence, a physical office or local revenue eventually need their own licence, and we will tell you when you have reached that point instead of extending the arrangement indefinitely.
- Labour contract, visa sponsorship and Emirates ID processing
- Monthly payroll through the Wage Protection System
- Mandatory medical cover, leave tracking and gratuity accrual
WPS, MoHRE and getting paid on time
Salaries in the mainland UAE are paid through the Wage Protection System, which reports payment to the labour ministry and creates a record that late or partial payment cannot hide. Payroll dates, allowance structure and any variable pay are agreed in advance so the monthly run is routine.
Payslips, leave balances and gratuity accrual are visible to both you and the employee, since a package nobody can see becomes a dispute eventually.
Mainland or free zone, and why it matters
Visa quotas, permitted activities, client contracting and the applicable data protection regime all differ between a mainland licence and a free zone one, and a DIFC or ADGM entity is different again. Which route suits you depends on where your customers are, whether staff need to work at client premises and what your own compliance obligations require.
That conversation happens before any contract is signed, with your legal counsel where the answer is finely balanced.
Ending an engagement without a dispute
Departures are where informal arrangements fail. Notice periods, final settlement, accrued leave, gratuity calculation, visa cancellation and the grace period for the employee to transfer or exit are all defined in the contract and handled by us when the time comes. The employee gets a clean exit and you get a documented close.
What you get
- Compliant UAE employment contract in your chosen structure
- Residence visa, medical, Emirates ID and labour card processing
- Monthly payroll run through the Wage Protection System
- Payslips, leave records and gratuity accrual visible to both sides
- Mandatory health insurance arranged and renewed
- Consolidated monthly invoice with statutory costs itemised
- HR policy pack aligned to UAE labour law for your team
- Offboarding covering settlement, gratuity and visa cancellation
Typical outcomes
2-6 weeks
New employment visa, offer to first day
0
Local entities you need to incorporate
Monthly
Billing cycle, with headcount adjustable
Questions
A fixed monthly fee per employee, plus the actual statutory and insurance costs shown as separate lines. Visa and medical fees are government and insurer charges passed through at cost, without a markup buried in the rate.
Yes, and many clients plan for exactly that. Once your licence is issued, visas are transferred and service continuity for gratuity purposes is handled as part of the move.
Day-to-day management, performance, work allocation and the decision to hire or end an engagement. Certain obligations, including health and safety at your premises and lawful treatment of the employee, remain shared, and the contract states which is which.
Our licence covers UAE employment. For staff elsewhere in the GCC we will tell you plainly whether we can help through a partner arrangement or whether a local provider is the better route.
Related
Next step
Start with a 20-minute call.
Tell us the roles you need filled, the system you need built, or both. You will speak to someone who has done the work, and leave the call with a route forward.