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Labeeb Reference · Work rights & working life · rules checked 25 September 2026

Salary paid late in the UAE: what the 2026 rules say and what you can do

If your salary has not arrived, the first thing to know is that the rule changed on 1 June 2026. Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026 replaced the 2022 Wage Protection System (WPS) resolution, fixed one payday for the whole private sector and removed the old 15-day window. This guide sets out, from the official texts, when your wage is due, what the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) does automatically when it is not paid, and the steps you can take yourself.

Question Rule Source
When is my salary due? The 1st day of each Gregorian month, for the previous month. Anything paid after that date is a delay. MR 340/2026, Art. 1
Is there still a 15-day grace period? No. The 15-day rule in MR 598/2022 was repealed on 1 June 2026. MR 340/2026, Arts. 7–8
How much must arrive for the employer to count as compliant? At least 85% of total wages due, and each worker must receive at least 85% of their own wage, with any shortfall explained by lawful deductions. MR 340/2026, Art. 2
What happens to a late employer? Monitoring from day 1, alerts from day 2, work-permit freeze from day 5, fines and reclassification from day 11, automatic dispute registration from day 16, attachment, travel ban and prosecution referral from day 21. MR 340/2026, Annex 1
Who do I call? MOHRE call centre 600590000; Labour Claims and Advisory Centre 80084. MOHRE contact page
Can I resign without notice over unpaid wages? Yes, under Art. 45(1), but only after notifying MOHRE 14 working days before leaving and the employer failing to fix the breach. Decree-Law 33/2021, Art. 45
Does the Ministry decide my claim or a court? MOHRE decides claims up to AED 50,000; larger claims go to court if no settlement is reached. Decree-Law 33/2021, Art. 54 (as amended)

When your salary is legally due

Short answer: since 1 June 2026, the previous month’s wage is due on the 1st of the next month, and a payment on the 2nd is already late.

Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 sets the base rule. Article 22 requires the employer to pay wages “on their due dates in accordance with the regulations approved in the Ministry”, in UAE dirhams unless the contract agrees another currency. Article 16 of the Executive Regulation (Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022) adds that every establishment registered with MOHRE must pay on the due date through WPS or another Ministry-approved system, and must be able to prove it. Pay is not the only term the law fixes; the reduced Ramadan working hours in the UAE apply to the same contracts.

The due date itself was left to ministerial resolutions. Until mid-2026 that was MR 598/2022: wages were due on the first day of the following month, but an employer was only treated as late once 15 days had passed, which is why many companies paid between the 10th and the 15th.

What Ministerial Resolution 340 of 2026 changed

MR 340/2026 was issued by the Minister on 12 May 2026 and, by its Article 8, came into force on 1 June 2026. Three provisions matter to an employee:

  • Article 1: “The first day of each Gregorian month shall be designated as the unified due date for the payment of workers’ wages in private sector establishments for the preceding Gregorian month. Any payment made after such date shall be deemed a delay in wage payment.”
  • Article 2: an establishment is compliant if it transfers at least 85% of total wages due by the due date, and a worker is not treated as unpaid if they receive at least 85% of their wage, provided the gap is explained by lawful deductions under Article 25 of the Decree-Law. The article states this is “without prejudice to the worker’s right to claim any amounts due”.
  • Article 7: MR 598/2022 is repealed.

In practice, July 2026 salaries were due on 1 August 2026, whatever pay date the contract states.

What counts as “late” now

There is no longer a statutory tolerance period. The Annex to MR 340 counts days “following the due date”, so the escalation clock starts on the 2nd. Note also what “paid” means: 85% of the wage arriving through WPS keeps the employer off the enforcement ladder, but it does not cancel your right to the remaining 15% if no lawful deduction explains it. Article 25 of the Decree-Law lists the only permitted deductions (consented loan repayments, overpayment recovery capped at 20%, pension contributions, approved disciplinary fines capped at 5%, court-ordered debts, damage repair capped at five days’ wage), with an overall ceiling of 50%.

What WPS does and does not guarantee

Short answer: WPS is a monitoring and enforcement system that pressures the employer; it is not a fund that pays you if the employer does not.

WPS is an electronic transfer channel through banks, exchange houses and financial institutions approved by MOHRE. Every registered private-sector establishment must run payroll through it (or another Ministry-approved system) and file proof of payment. Because the Ministry sees every transfer, non-payment is detected without you having to complain first.

Its limits matter just as much:

  • It does not advance wages. If the company has no money, WPS records the failure and escalates against the employer; the cash still has to come from the employer, a court order or an attachment.
  • It monitors the wage registered in the system. Pay agreed informally outside the contract is invisible to it.
  • Some workers are outside WPS under Article 4 of MR 340: those whose wage claim for that period is already before a court, those with an absconding report on file, workers on approved unpaid leave, seafarers, mission-permit holders of up to three months, and foreign staff of foreign branches paid abroad with their consent. Banks, places of worship, and citizen-owned fishing boats and taxis are excluded as establishments.

Many late-salary cases resolve within two weeks because the employer’s ability to issue new work permits stops on day 5. That is not the same as the Ministry acting on your individual case, which depends on the thresholds described next.

What the employer faces

Short answer: a fixed ladder of measures set out in Annex 1 of MR 340/2026, running from electronic monitoring on the due date to Public Prosecution referral from day 21.

The Annex is the only official penalty schedule; the table summarises it. Fine amounts under Cabinet Resolution No. 21 of 2020 are not reproduced here.

Day after due date Measure Applies to
Due date onward Electronic monitoring until payment is proven All establishments
Day 2 Notifications and alerts to pay Non-compliant establishments
Day 5 New work permits suspended; owner notified and warned Non-compliant establishments
Day 11 Administrative fine under Cabinet Resolution 21/2020 and reclassification to the Third Category Repeat violation within six months
Day 16 Automatic registration of an individual or collective labour dispute for affected workers; work-permit issuance suspended Establishments with 25 or more workers, or same-owner groups with 25 or more unpaid workers in construction, transport and storage, security, cleaning, recruitment or domestic-worker recruitment
Day 21 Executive instrument for wages (under 50 workers) or collective-dispute procedures (50 or more); precautionary attachment of the establishment; travel ban on the person in charge; notification of the Public Prosecution for repeated violation within two consecutive months Establishments with 50 or more workers, same-owner groups with 50 or more unpaid workers in the listed sectors, or any establishment where the labour market’s stability is at risk

For a worker in a small company, note that the day-16 automatic dispute registration is triggered by headcount, so in a firm with fewer than 25 staff you will usually need to file your own complaint. Even a small employer, though, loses the ability to hire from day 5 and can face an executive instrument and attachment from day 21. Under Article 5, outsourcing payroll does not shift responsibility: “the establishment shall remain responsible for paying wages on their due dates”.

What you can do, in order

Short answer: document, ask HR in writing, file with MOHRE, and only then consider leaving under Article 45 or going to court.

Step 1: Confirm the facts and write to HR

Check your bank account on the 2nd, not the 10th. Then send a short written message to HR asking for the payment date, and keep the reply. Many delays are a bank-file or funding problem that finance resolves once it knows the Ministry’s clock is running.

Step 2: File a labour complaint with MOHRE

You do not need a lawyer. MOHRE’s contact page lists the call centre on 600590000 (24/7) and a Labour Claims and Advisory Centre on 80084; complaints can also be lodged through the Ministry’s digital channels. Under Article 54 of the Decree-Law (as amended by Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2024), the Ministry first tries an amicable settlement. For claims of AED 50,000 or less, MOHRE can issue a decision carrying a writ of execution, which either party may challenge before the Court of Appeal within 15 working days. Larger or unsettled claims are referred to court within 14 days with the Ministry’s recommendation (Executive Regulation, Art. 31).

Two protections are worth knowing. Article 54(5) allows the Ministry to order the employer to keep paying your wage for up to two months while a dispute is pending, and Article 54(9) sets a two-year limit for any claim after the employment relationship ends.

Step 3: Court, if the Ministry refers you

Register the case promptly; the Executive Regulation expects the worker to do so and to regularise residency status. The court must hold a hearing within three working days and, on appeal from a MOHRE decision, rule within 30 working days. Keep copies of everything you filed with the Ministry.

Step 4: Leaving without notice under Article 45

Article 45(1) lets a worker quit without notice, keeping end-of-service rights, where the employer breaches its obligations under the contract, the Decree-Law or its resolutions; non-payment of wages is such a breach. The condition is procedural: you must notify MOHRE 14 working days before the date you intend to leave, and the employer must have failed to fix the breach despite being notified by the Ministry. Leaving earlier turns a protected exit into an ordinary resignation. Before choosing this route, read the notice, gratuity and visa implications in leaving a job in the UAE or Saudi Arabia.

Step 5: Final settlement timing

Whether you resign or are terminated, Article 53 requires the employer to pay wages and all other entitlements within 14 days of the contract’s end date. How the gratuity part is calculated is covered in the end-of-service gratuity guide.

How unpaid salary interacts with ILOE

Short answer: unemployment insurance pays after involuntary job loss; it does not replace late wages, and resigning under Article 45 is still a resignation for ILOE purposes.

The Involuntary Loss of Employment scheme pays 60% of average basic salary for the six months before job loss, capped at AED 10,000 (Category A) or AED 20,000 (Category B) per month, for up to three months per claim, after 12 consecutive months of paid premiums. The scheme’s portal states it does not cover loss of employment “due to disciplinary action or resignation”. So if the company collapses and terminates you, ILOE can bridge the gap while the wage claim proceeds; if you leave under Article 45, the exit is protected for gratuity and notice, but the portal treats resignation as excluded, so check your policy wording first. Eligibility and the claim window are set out in the ILOE job-loss compensation guide.

Free zones: DIFC and ADGM are different

Short answer: MR 340 and MOHRE apply to establishments registered with the Ministry; the two financial free zones run their own employment laws and their own courts.

If your employer is registered in the Dubai International Financial Centre or Abu Dhabi Global Market, your contract is governed by DIFC Employment Law (DIFC Law No. 2 of 2019) or the ADGM Employment Regulations 2024, and disputes go to the DIFC or ADGM Courts rather than MOHRE. Those regimes set their own payment deadlines and late-payment penalties, which differ from the Annex above. This article does not quote them; check the free zone’s published law before acting. Other free zones generally fall under the federal Decree-Law, so the MOHRE route above still applies.

What to keep as evidence

Short answer: build a file that shows the agreed wage, the due date, and exactly what arrived.

  • Your signed MOHRE employment contract showing basic wage, allowances and pay period.
  • Monthly bank statements showing the WPS credit, its date and amount.
  • Payslips or WPS salary statements, especially where the credit is below the contract wage; check any claimed deduction against Article 25.
  • Written requests to HR and every reply, with dates.
  • Your MOHRE complaint reference number and Ministry correspondence.
  • For an Article 45 exit, proof of the 14-working-day notification to the Ministry.

Under MR 340 the relevant date is always the 1st of the month; a payment on the 3rd is late for the record even if you accept it. The GCC career calendar lists public holidays that can affect bank processing. Labeeb publishes this guide for information only; it is not legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

My contract says salary is paid on the 10th. Does the 1st still apply?

Yes. Article 1 of MR 340/2026 makes the 1st of the month the unified due date for all private-sector establishments registered with MOHRE, and any later payment is a delay. A contract date later than the 1st does not extend the deadline; paying earlier is compliant.

Is one day late really a violation?

Yes. The 15-day rule in MR 598/2022 was repealed on 1 June 2026. Annex 1 of MR 340 starts notifications on the second day after the due date and suspends new work permits on the fifth; fines come later and only for repeat violations.

I received 85% of my salary. Is that legal?

Only if the missing 15% is a deduction permitted by Article 25 of the Decree-Law, such as an agreed loan repayment or a court-ordered debt. Article 2 of MR 340 says the 85% threshold applies “without prejudice to the worker’s right to claim any amounts due”. A shortfall with no lawful reason is still unpaid wage that you can claim.

Can I stop working until I am paid?

The Decree-Law gives no general right to withhold work. The protected route is Article 45(1): notify MOHRE 14 working days before quitting. Stopping work without that process risks being treated as absent, and an absconding report takes you outside WPS monitoring under Article 4 of MR 340.

How long does a MOHRE complaint take?

The Executive Regulation gives the Ministry 14 days from the complaint to reach a settlement or refer the case to court. For claims up to AED 50,000, MOHRE can issue its own enforceable decision, which either side may challenge before the Court of Appeal within 15 working days; the court then decides within 30 working days.

Does filing a complaint affect my visa?

Under Article 31(3) of the Executive Regulation, a worker whose complaint is referred to the judiciary must register the case promptly and regularise residency status. Article 17 of the same regulation also allows the Ministry, where an employer does not enable the worker to work, to cancel the work permit and let the worker move to another establishment without losing rights against the old employer.

Can I claim unpaid salary after I have left the country?

Article 54(9) of the Decree-Law sets a two-year limit from the end of the employment relationship. Attending hearings and executing a judgment from abroad is harder, so file before you leave where possible.

Sources

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