Sick Leave UAE: The Employer's Guide
- Mayank Sharma
- Jun 16
- 9 min read
Updated: 7 days ago
Sick leave is one of those areas that feels simple until the day it is not. An employee is unwell, a message arrives, payroll needs an answer, and the rules you half-remember turn out to matter a great deal. Handled with care, sick leave UAE obligations are straightforward to administer and reflect well on an employer at exactly the moment a person needs steadiness. Handled loosely, they produce underpayments, awkward conversations, and disputes that were entirely avoidable.
This guide is written for founders and HR or payroll leaders who would rather get the framework right once than improvise it case by case. It sets out what the law provides in the onshore private sector, how the pay tapers across the entitlement, what happens during probation, the notification and medical-certificate rules, how sick leave interacts with annual leave and termination, why a work injury is treated separately, and how to turn all of it into a clear, fair policy.
A note before we begin: this is general information, not legal advice. Sick leave interacts with your specific contracts, your onshore or free zone status, and your obligations under UAE law — so confirm the specifics with a qualified adviser or MOHRE before you act on any individual case.
What the UAE sick leave law provides
The framework for the onshore private sector is Federal Decree-Law No.ofon the Regulation of Labour Relations and its Executive Regulations, administered by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE). Sick leave sits in Article 31, and the detail that matters most is that the pay is not a flat rate across the whole period.
After completing the probationary period, an employee is entitled to up to 90 days of sick leave per year of service, taken continuously or intermittently. The pay tapers across those days as follows:
The firstdays — at full pay.
The nextdays — at half pay.
The remainingdays — without pay.
That 15-then-30-then-45 structure is the part employers most often get wrong, so build it into payroll from the start rather than defaulting to full pay throughout or, worse, paying less than the law requires in the early days.
A few points round out the core entitlement:
Thedays is an annual ceiling, covering the year of service, whether the absences are taken in one block or spread across several episodes.
It applies after probation. The full paid entitlement is available once the employee has completed the probationary period, not before.
The half-pay and unpaid bands are still protected leave. Reaching dayor daydoes not end the employment relationship by itself; it changes the pay treatment, not the employee's status.
This is a considered, employee-supportive framework, and the UAE applies it consistently across the onshore private sector. The job for employers is simply to apply it accurately. Because the entitlement begins after probation, it is worth understanding how that earlier window works, which our employer's guide to the probation period in the UAE sets out in full.
Sick leave during probation UAE
This is the point employers most frequently misjudge, so it is worth stating plainly. An employee is not entitled to paid sick leave during the probationary period.
That does not mean an unwell employee on probation has no options. The law allows an employer to grant unpaid sick leave during probation, supported by a medical report from a recognised medical authority confirming that the leave is necessary. The decision to grant it sits with the employer, and the absence is unpaid rather than paid.
Two practical points follow:
Be consistent. If you grant unpaid sick leave on probation in one case, apply the same approach to comparable cases. Inconsistency is where grievances start.
Keep the medical evidence on file. An unpaid medical absence during probation should still rest on a proper certificate, recorded cleanly, so the basis for the decision is clear later.
The cleaner the documentation during probation, the easier every subsequent decision becomes. This is one of several reasons probation rewards being run deliberately rather than passively.
Notification and medical certificates
The entitlement comes with obligations on the employee, and a fair employer makes those obligations clear in advance rather than enforcing them by surprise.
Under Article 31, an employee who is unable to work because of illness must:
Notify the employer within three working days of the start of the absence; and
Submit a medical report on their condition, issued by the relevant medical authority.
For the certificate to do its job, it should come from a healthcare facility licensed by the competent UAE health authority — for example, the Ministry of Health and Prevention, or the relevant emirate-level authority such as the Dubai Health Authority in Dubai or the Department of Health in Abu Dhabi. In practice, a sound certificate names the patient consistently with their Emirates ID, states the recommended period of leave, and carries the doctor's details and the facility's stamp and date.
For employers, the lesson is to make the process explicit. State who to notify, by when, and what evidence is required, so that an unwell employee is not left guessing and a manager is not left improvising. Clear process at a stressful moment is a kindness as much as a control.
How sick leave interacts with annual leave
A frequent question is whether sick leave eats into annual leave, or the other way around. They are separate entitlements and should be treated as such.
Sick leave is its own entitlement. A period of genuine, certified illness is sick leave, not annual leave, and should be recorded as such.
Annual leave continues to accrue. Being on sick leave does not, in itself, strip the employee of their right to accrue annual leave; the two run in parallel.
Do not net one against the other casually. Converting certified sick days into annual leave, or vice versa, without a proper basis is a common source of payroll error and dispute.
Keeping the two ledgers distinct is what makes the year-end reconciliation clean. If you would like to see how the other major leave types accrue and settle across the year, our UAE annual leave 2026 employer's guide covers the wider picture.
Termination during illness
The law protects an employee against being dismissed simply for being unwell, within the bounds of the entitlement. An employer may not dismiss an employee, or serve notice of termination, while the employee is on their sick leave.
What happens at the end of the entitlement is the part employers need to understand carefully:
Within thedays, the protection holds. An employee using their statutory sick leave should not be dismissed or given notice because of that absence.
After thedays are exhausted, if the employee has used the full entitlement and is still unable to return to work, the employer may consider terminating the relationship.
Entitlements must be settled correctly. Where employment ends in these circumstances, the employee remains entitled to their end-of-service benefits in accordance with the labour law.
A further point worth flagging internally: if an employee leaves during a paid sick-leave period, pay for that period can be affected where the departure is connected to the illness. Because these situations are fact-specific and easy to get wrong, treat any proposed termination touching illness as a moment to pause and take advice rather than act quickly. For where this sits within the broader compliance picture, our complete HR compliance checklist for UAE employers maps the obligations that surround the exit.
Work injury is treated separately
This is an important distinction that catches employers out. The 90-day sick-leave framework in Articleapplies to illness not caused by a work injury or an occupational hazard. Work-related injuries and occupational diseases sit under their own, more protective provisions in the law.
In broad terms, and without standing in for the specific rules:
A work injury or occupational disease is not counted as ordinary sick leave. It is dealt with under the dedicated work-injury provisions, which exist precisely because the cause is connected to the job.
The protections are more generous. These provisions contemplate employer responsibility for treatment costs and for the employee's pay during recovery, on a different basis from the tapering sick-leave bands.
The practical instruction for employers is to classify the absence correctly from the outset. Logging a genuine work injury as ordinary sick leave understates the employee's protection and creates compliance risk. When an injury may be work-related, treat it under the work-injury rules and take advice on the specifics rather than defaulting to the 90-day calculation.
Writing a clear, fair sick-leave policy
The law sets the floor. A good policy turns that floor into something an employee can rely on and a manager can administer without guesswork. A strong sick-leave policy does five things.
State the entitlement plainly. Set out the 90-day annual entitlement after probation and the 15-then-30-then-45 pay split, so an unwell employee can understand their position quickly. Make clear that paid sick leave does not apply during probation, and that any sick absence in that window would be unpaid and at the company's discretion, supported by a medical report.
Explain notification and evidence. Say who to notify, that notification is required within three working days, and what medical certificate is needed and from whom. Removing ambiguity here prevents most disputes before they begin.
Keep sick leave and annual leave distinct. Spell out that certified sick leave is recorded as sick leave, that annual leave continues to accrue, and that the two are not netted against each other without a proper basis.
Address work injury separately. State clearly that work-related injuries and occupational diseases are handled under the dedicated provisions of the law, not the ordinary sick-leave bands, and describe how an employee should report a workplace injury.
Be consistent and keep it current. Apply the policy evenly across the team, record absences accurately for payroll and the Wage Protection System, and review it whenever the law or your entity structure changes. Where your people sit across mainland and the financial free zones, note which framework applies.
A sick-leave policy does not stand alone — it belongs inside a coherent set of people policies that do not contradict one another. Our guide to building a UAE employee handbook, with template shows where leave provisions fit within the wider document.
If you are not certain your current sick-leave practices match what the law requires — in policy, in payroll and in records — a structured HR audit is the most efficient way to surface the gaps before they turn into claims.
A note on DIFC and ADGM
One distinction is easy to miss. Federal Decree-Law No.ofgoverns the onshore private sector and most free zones, but the two financial free zones run their own employment regimes. DIFC in Dubai and ADGM in Abu Dhabi each apply their own employment law, with sick-leave provisions that differ in length and structure from the federal framework. If you operate across jurisdictions, identify which regime each employee actually sits under before you calculate anything, rather than assuming a single house rule covers everyone.
Book a Diagnostic with Element
Sick leave rarely brings an employer down on its own, but it lands at a sensitive moment, and small errors in pay, process or classification are felt keenly and remembered. A correct pay calculation, a clear notification and evidence process, a clean separation between sick and annual leave, and the right handling of work injury are not difficult to maintain once they are set up properly. The work is in setting them up.
If you would like a clear, considered view of how your sick-leave policy, payroll treatment and records measure up to UAE sick leave law, book a Diagnostic with Element. We will look at where you are, what the law requires, and the shortest route to a framework you can stand behind.
Frequently asked questions
How many days of sick leave is an employee entitled to in the UAE? After completing probation, an employee is entitled to up todays of sick leave per year of service under Federal Decree-Law No.of 2021. The pay tapers across those days: the firstdays at full pay, the nextdays at half pay, and the remainingdays without pay. Thedays can be taken continuously or intermittently.
Is sick leave paid during probation in the UAE? No. There is no entitlement to paid sick leave during the probationary period. An employer may, at its discretion, grant unpaid sick leave during probation, supported by a medical report from a recognised medical authority confirming the leave is necessary.
How quickly must an employee report sickness, and what evidence is needed? Under Article 31, the employee must notify the employer within three working days of the start of the absence and submit a medical report on their condition, issued by the relevant medical authority. The certificate should come from a healthcare facility licensed by the competent UAE health authority.
Can an employer terminate an employee who is on sick leave in the UAE? An employer may not dismiss an employee, or serve notice of termination, while the employee is on their statutory sick leave. If the employee uses the full 90-day entitlement and is still unable to return to work, the employer may consider termination, and the employee remains entitled to their end-of-service benefits under the law. Because these cases are fact-specific, take advice before acting.
Is a work injury treated as ordinary sick leave in the UAE? No. The 90-day sick-leave framework covers illness not caused by a work injury or occupational hazard. Work-related injuries and occupational diseases are handled under separate, more protective provisions of the law, which contemplate employer responsibility for treatment and pay during recovery. Classify a work injury under those provisions, not as ordinary sick leave.
Related guides
Sources
The Official Portal of the UAE Government (u.ae) — Sick leave, private sector (90-day entitlement after probation; firstdays full pay, nextdays half pay, remainder unpaid; no paid sick leave during probation; three-day notification and medical report under Article 31; no dismissal during sick leave; work injury treated separately): https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/jobs/employment-in-the-private-sector/types-of-leaves-and-entitlements-in-the-private-sector/sick-leave
Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) — Federal Decree-Law No.ofon the Regulation of Labour Relations and its Executive Regulations, Article(sick leave) and the work-injury and occupational-disease provisions: https://www.mohre.gov.ae
Note: DIFC and ADGM apply their own employment laws, with distinct sick-leave provisions; confirm the applicable regime for each entity.
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