Abu Dhabi HR guide: ADGM, mainland and free zones

ADGM: what the Employment Affairs Office says

ADGM is a financial free zone in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Its Employment Affairs Office (EAO) published guidance and a FAQ on the Employment Regulations 2024 on 18 February 2025. The guidance says the regulations apply to every employer incorporated, established or registered in ADGM, and to employees who are based in or ordinarily work from ADGM, or who agree in the contract to be covered. It also says that any agreement to give up a minimum right is void, while better terms are always allowed.

Remote work is built in. The FAQ defines a remote employee as someone who lives inside or outside the UAE and does not normally work from the employer's ADGM premises. A remote employee based in the UAE still needs an ADGM work permit and a residence visa where applicable. One based abroad needs neither.

Here are the minimums most small teams meet in the first year, as the guidance states them:

• Contract: signed by both sides before the first day, with a signed copy to the employee within one month of starting. It must state that ADGM law governs it (Section 5).
• Probation: up to six months, ended by either side on one week's notice. No gratuity if it ends in probation, but a one way repatriation flight is owed (Sections 8 and 62).
• Notice: 7 calendar days under three months of service or in probation, then 30 days (Section 56). A payment in lieu needs the employee's written consent.
• Hours: no more than 48 in any seven days without written consent. Employees also get 24 hours of uninterrupted rest each week and 11 consecutive hours each day, so nobody can consent to more than 67 hours (Section 15, FAQ).
• Breaks: at least one hour of rest and prayer time when the day is longer than six hours (Section 20).
• Ramadan: hours for Muslim employees are cut by 25% a day with no pay cut (Section 17). On a mainland licence the cut is two hours, so a group with both entities needs two Ramadan calendars.
• Vacation: 20 working days a year, excluding public holidays, accruing at one twelfth a month in the first year. Unused days carry forward for 12 months, with at least 5 days protected. Accrued days are paid out at exit (Sections 21 to 24).
• Sick leave: up to 60 working days in 12 months: 10 on full pay, 20 on half pay, 30 unpaid (Sections 29 and 30).
• Family leave: maternity of 65 working days, 33 on full pay and 32 on half pay, with pay conditional on 12 months of service. Paternity of 5 working days within two months of the birth. Bereavement of 5 working days (Sections 28, 32 to 34).

None of this is the mainland rulebook with a different cover. Probation notice, sick pay bands and leave days differ from the federal figures in the Sharjah guide, and the Dubai guide covers the DIFC side. If you hold both an ADGM and a mainland entity, keep two policy sets and label every employee with the entity that signed their contract.

Records, pay statements and pay dates in ADGM

The guidance lists what an employer must keep for each person: the contract, passport copy, phone and personal email, start date, gross and net wages and pay period, benefits, each deduction with its reason, vacation dates, sick leave and sick pay, any repatriation flight and the gratuity paid. Records are kept in English, are accessible at the principal place of business in ADGM and are retained in line with the ADGM Data Protection Regulations 2021. Missing records can draw a fine up to Level 7 on the ADGM scale. A missing signed contract or pay statement is up to Level 3.

Wages must be arranged within 14 calendar days of the end of the pay period, which cannot be longer than a month, and the employee gets a written pay statement around payday. After termination, wages and other amounts owed are due within 21 calendar days, though variable pay such as bonuses can follow a written agreement on timing. That is a different clock from the mainland WPS ladder in the Sharjah guide, which counts 15 days from the first of the following month.

No WPS inside ADGM

The EAO is direct about it: the UAE Wage Protection System does not apply in ADGM. The employer and employee choose the payment method, as long as Part 3 of the regulations on protection of wages is met. There is also no statutory minimum wage in the regulations.

This changes how you use payroll tools. A SIF file belongs to a mainland establishment registered with MOHRE. The WPS SIF checker on this site is for those files only. For ADGM staff, HR FLARE keeps the payroll record and payslip for each month, which is what the pay statement rule asks you to be able to show. It does not move money and it has no tax calculation.

End of service in ADGM: gratuity or pension

An employee with one year or more of continuous service gets gratuity at the end of employment, whatever the reason, including part time and remote staff. Each of the first five years earns 21 days of basic wage, and each year after that earns 30. The daily rate is the basic wage at the termination date divided by 365, and the basic wage cannot be set below 50% of annual wages. Part years are pro rated, successive fixed term contracts add together, and the employer may deduct sums the employee owes. Probation counts once it is passed.

A worked example, our arithmetic on the EAO method: annual basic wage of AED 120,000 and seven years of service. The daily rate is 120,000 divided by 365, about AED 328.77. The days are 5 × 21 plus 2 × 30, which is 165. The gratuity is about AED 54,247. The UAE gratuity calculator follows the mainland article, not this section, so do not use it for ADGM staff.

Two exceptions matter. UAE and GCC nationals are not entitled to gratuity unless the relevant pension authority approved in writing that they stay out of the state scheme. The employer must register them with the pension authority within 30 calendar days of their first day, under Section 60 and ADGM Registration Authority Circular No. 1 of 2024. And an employer may offer any employee a pension or savings scheme instead of gratuity. The employee must choose in writing, and then loses gratuity unless the employer agrees otherwise.

Health insurance: the Abu Dhabi duty

Abu Dhabi has its own health insurance law. Law No. 23 of 2005, as compiled by the Department of Health (DoH), applies to non-UAE national residents of the emirate and their families. Article 5 says the employer provides cover for all employees and their families, including a wife and three children under 18. A non-UAE national cannot obtain or renew a residence permit, or be employed, without enrolment. The implementing regulation adds that the employer is responsible for the cost of basic policies and must not pass it on. The authorities will not renew a trade licence without proof of cover for the previous period, and a work visa application needs the same proof.

The penalties in the compiled text are concrete. Article 24 sets a fine of at least AED 300 for each month an employee goes uninsured, multiplied by the number of people. Article 24 also sets AED 5,000 to 20,000 for other violations. Schedule 4 lists AED 10,000 per insured person for an employer who passes part of the premium on, plus a refund.

ADGM employers have the duty too. Section 49 requires cover for all employees, including Golden Visa holders, and for dependents where applicable. The guidance names DoH as the competent authority. HR FLARE does not manage policies: they come from your insurer.

The government week is not your week

Abu Dhabi runs a four and a half day week in its government entities. The Abu Dhabi Media Office announced on 7 December 2021 that from 1 January 2022 the weekend is Saturday and Sunday. Monday to Thursday run from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm, with regular flexible timings still applicable, and Friday is a half day from 7:30 am to 12:00 pm. The Department of Government Enablement lists the same hours on its contact page. The announcement says "across all government entities" and does not mention private companies.

For a private team the practical effect is on the other side of the phone. Government entities work half a day on Friday, so book anything that needs a government desk, such as a visa step or a licence renewal, early in the week or before noon on Friday. Your own week is a contract choice. ADGM sets only the 48 hour ceiling and the weekly rest. On the mainland the u.ae working hours page, updated 12 August 2026, gives 8 hours a day and 48 a week. The Sharjah guide covers the different Sharjah government week.

HR FLARE lets each person plan their own schedule, with no rota assigned by a manager, and keeps time tracking and weekly timesheets. That gives you the hours record behind the 48 hour and rest rules without a rota to maintain.

Emiratis: Emiratisation and the pension fund

The EAO guidance states that the federal Emiratisation laws do not apply in ADGM, and still advises employers to check with the relevant onshore authority for any effect on them. For a mainland Abu Dhabi company the federal rules apply. The u.ae page on employing Emiratis, updated 12 August 2026, sets two groups: companies with 50 or more workers must raise the Emirati share of skilled jobs by 2% a year, and companies with 20 to 49 workers in 14 listed sectors must hire set numbers of Emiratis. The Dubai guide lists the sectors and the contribution amounts it names.

Pensions are the Abu Dhabi twist. The u.ae pensions page, updated 3 July 2026, says the Abu Dhabi Pension Fund manages pensions for UAE nationals based and employed in Abu Dhabi, under a separate Abu Dhabi law. For newly insured employees it gives total contributions of 26% of deductible salary, 11% from the employee and 15% from the employer, with a ceiling of AED 100,000 on deductible salary for people entering the job market. It gives no Abu Dhabi registration deadline, so ask the fund for yours. The 30 day deadline above is the ADGM rule. HR FLARE does not calculate pension contributions.

TAMM, ADDED and where hiring starts

ADDED's licensing page, last updated 5 October 2026, lists the licence types: Standard, Abu Dhabi Trader, Virtual, Freelancer, Mobdea, Small Producers and Dual. It says you apply through eServices on TAMM, the Abu Dhabi government services portal. The page says nothing about employment or hiring, and we do not read more into it. The licence is the start of the chain, and the licence type decides the next authority: MOHRE for a mainland licence, ACCESSADGM for ADGM, the zone for a zone company.

For ADGM the EAO is specific. To get a residence visa for an employee, the employer needs a valid establishment card with the ADGM Registration Authority, and the employee needs an offer or a signed contract. When employment ends, the employer cancels the residence visa and ADGM work permit within the timeframe set by the onshore authority, and may not recover cancellation costs from the employee. The EAO does not advise on visas: it points to ADGM Corporate Relations.

KEZAD, Masdar City and twofour54

KEZAD Group describes itself as part of AD Ports Group, running 12 economic zones across Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Dhafra, with business setup in a Domestic Economic Zone (mainland) or a free zone, and 40 or more staff accommodation sites. If you lease there, read your licence: it says which side you are on.

Masdar City Free Zone's licence page lists an immigration establishment card and a refundable visa deposit per employee, and its packages carry visa quotas of one, two or three. The quota is a commercial term, so a team that doubles in a year can hit it before any labour rule. twofour54's own article of 7 March 2023 says the company arranges visas for its staff through its Tawasol support team.

We found no page naming the employment law for KEZAD, Masdar City or twofour54. The government portal's recruiting page, updated 28 September 2026, gives the general rule: free zone staff follow the zone authority's employment regulations together with the federal labour law, and ADGM and DIFC are the independent exceptions. Ask your zone for its regulations in writing before you draft a contract.

A yearly checklist for an Abu Dhabi team

• Entity: the employee's contract names the right one, ADGM or the ADDED licensed company.
• Contract: signed before day one, and a signed copy delivered within one month (ADGM).
• Health insurance: a valid policy for every employee and eligible dependants, in the visa file and at licence renewal.
• Pay: statements by payday, ADGM wages within 14 days of the period end, mainland salaries through WPS.
• Emirati staff: pension registration with the right authority, within 30 days in ADGM.
• Leave: vacation carry forward expires after 12 months in ADGM, so review balances in the autumn.
• Ramadan: a 25% cut in ADGM for Muslim employees, two hours on the mainland, before the month starts.
• Exit: dues within 21 days (ADGM), visa and permit cancelled, a repatriation flight offered where owed.

What HR FLARE does not do

• No ADGM, MOHRE or TAMM connection: permits, visas and licences stay in those portals.
• No tax calculation: payroll records show the figures you enter.
• No health insurance or pension management: policies come from your insurer, and contributions are worked out outside HR FLARE.
• No WPS inside ADGM: the file check is for mainland SIF files.
• Data location: data is hosted in Europe; in-country hosting is not available.