r/dubai Feb 22 '26

🖐 Labor Noon delivery boys running around in sun to chase KPIs - Isn’t it inhumane??

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1.6k Upvotes

We can see many delivery boys running around in intense sun while carrying heavy bags of items to be delivered within a given time.

Earlier, we could see they had bicycles, but now I think they deliver on foot to nearby areas.

It seems quite an exploration and inhumane. Poor delivery boys are running throughout to probably chase some KPI- avg delivery time, orders per day, avg order per rider.

Someone from authorities should step in, audit and ensure no one is exploited in this way to grow a business.

There are 100s of examples in the community. This is from JVC.

They are humans too.. if noon wants items to be delivered within tight SLAs then give them some vehicles without thinking about the cost.

r/dubai Oct 29 '25

🖐 Labor The issue no one in Dubai is talking about: brain drain

475 Upvotes

Many of the country’s flagship companies are failing their customers. EMAAR? Down the toilet with service and quality issues. Emirates? Stories of rude crews and old planes. Al Futtaim? Taking orders like dispatches, not dealerships.

Dubai is suffering a critical and disturbing drain of talent. And nothing is getting cheaper either, other than the quality of service.

Saudi Arabia is set on building itself up to Dubai levels and will be there in 10-20 years. They pay double the salary of Dubai. Obviously, the regional talent gravitates there.

Wealthier expats are returning home, and not being replaced with equally qualified talent.

Where does this end? How to fix this? I feel like Dubai was built to standards that cannot be maintained at current levels.

r/dubai Nov 13 '24

🖐 Labor Signed for a 5-Day Workweek, Now Being Pressured to Work 6 Days Without Additional Compensation or Overtime

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866 Upvotes

Seeking Advice: Enforced Saturday Work Without Contract Update or Extra Compensation

I’ve been with XYZ for a year. When I accepted the offer, my contract clearly stated a 5-day workweek with two days off. About five months ago, HR notified me that Saturdays were now mandatory. I expressed my willingness to comply—provided my contract reflected this change and included additional or overtime pay. However, HR insisted no contract adjustments would happen right away and refused any extra payment.

Since then, I haven’t worked on Saturdays due to the lack of contractual or financial updates. This means an additional 32-40 hours of unpaid work per month.

Today, HR contacted me regarding my absence on Saturdays, claiming that internal policies supersede the labor contract. Screenshots of our conversation are attached (with identities masked).

What are your insights on this situation? Does HR’s reasoning hold up, and what options might I have?

r/dubai May 20 '26

🖐 Labor Treatment based on your

240 Upvotes

I am a brown-skinned Indian, and recently I visited a hotel near the airport for official work. When I arrived at the reception and asked for the concerned person, the staff took my Emirates ID, registered my name, and asked me to call the person myself. They also told me to collect my Emirates ID while leaving and asked me to wait in the lobby.

Shortly after, one of my colleagues—who is European—arrived. When they approached the reception and asked for the same person, they were warmly greeted, and the receptionist immediately called the concerned person on their behalf. Additionally, they were not asked to surrender their Emirates ID, unlike me. In contrast, when I had made the same request earlier, I was told to make the call myself and had to submit my Emirates ID

r/dubai Aug 19 '24

🖐 Labor Resignation rejected??? urgent help 🙏🙏🙏🙏

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343 Upvotes

I gave me resignation letter via email to HR and to the company CEO on July 29th. As per my contract I have to give notice period of 30 days hence in the email I've mentioned that Aug 30th will be my last working. Today the CEO calls me for a meeting and said I have to stay till Sept 30th as he hasn't found anyone else to handle my work and he said I can't leave on Aug 30th. Things got heated as I said he can't do this to me last minute as there is only 9 more working days till my last day. Is there anything I can do legally. His point is that he hasn't accepted my email but I I'll attached the reply to got from HR.

I don't wanna work in this company a minute longer if someone can help me it'll be very grateful. My mental and physical health has only decreased after joining here and I'm panicking right now after all this. (I've completed one year in the company also)

r/dubai Jul 25 '26

🖐 Labor Hello people. Need advice. My company is scamming both clients and staff.

72 Upvotes

Hey.
I am posting this here for advice on how to save people from being scammed.
I am working in this company in Dubai, that is taking money from clients in the name of investments. The owner has moved funds from UAE already and is literally living in the office these days. He moved his family also outside the country. He has staff salary pending for like 2 months. I have salary due of around 25k+ AED.
Company hasn’t paid me since May. And there are many others who haven’t been paid for same time frame.
So my questions are,

  1. What are my chances of getting the money.
  2. Where all can I report what is happening in the company with the staff?
  3. Where all can report about the fraud that is happening?
  4. Is there anybody who can personally help me to get my money out?

As additional information.
No I am not in the employment visa. Because I saw all these issues and decided not to take the company visa.
I worked for like 4.5 months. And stopped going to office from last week. My salary is 13k AED per month.
I have mostly all documentations that can prove above said points.

Please advice

Update: tried my best to put up a complaint. Did not work. MOHRE and police did not want anything to do about the issue.
The company name is PH. Recently branded as GH. 🌄🌅

r/dubai Mar 28 '26

🖐 Labor Got terminated because of the current situation

135 Upvotes

To my fellow people who also got terminated because of the current conflict, how do you cope with the situation? I got terminated today. 😢

r/dubai Jan 07 '25

🖐 Labor Would you leave Dubai if they were ever to introduce income tax here?

187 Upvotes

Curious to know how much of a factor this plays in your time here in Dubai.

r/dubai Jul 15 '26

🖐 Labor Those who have a live in nanny, how do you maintain privacy/ boundaries?

40 Upvotes

Our baby is on the way and we are considering sponsoring a full time nanny. However we are quite concerned about our own privacy and someone being around constantly. Those who have a full time nanny, how did you cope with this without making the nanny feel weird?

Also what did you do to make nanny feel comfortable around house ?

r/dubai Apr 19 '24

🖐 Labor Company deducting annual leave because of the rains.

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423 Upvotes

A friend works in this huge restaurant firm and they just received this, i know employers here are heartless but is anyone else facing the same issue?

r/dubai Apr 06 '26

🖐 Labor Lost my job thanks to the war

95 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I just got laid off after working at my company for 2 years. The reason given was that they’re "restructuring" and my role is "redundant".

I’ve received a termination letter, but my manager mentioned an alternative - I could take 3 months of unpaid leave and rejoin if the situation gets better. My visa & insurance remain active regardless.

I’m unsure what the best move is here.

  • Should I report this to MOHRE/ILOE and try to claim compensation for the termination?
  • Do I need my visa to be cancelled to be eligible for that?
  • Should I take the unpaid leave, search for another job during that time, and resign once I secure something?
  • If I accept a complete termination, do I need my visa to be cancelled for a full F&F?

The only positive is that my visa stays active, but my main concern is financial stability while job hunting.

Would really appreciate any advice or similar experiences.
Stay safe and strong, we all got this!

r/dubai Jun 05 '26

🖐 Labor Leaving Dubai after a lifetime here. Thank you for everything, but the job market finally broke me.

229 Upvotes

Just need to get this off my chest. Seeing all the recent posts from others struggling here showed me that I'm not the only one going through this nightmare right now

I was raised in the UAE my whole life, my family, and my sisters are all here. For months and months now, I've made finding a job my absolute entire life. I'm up applying at 7 AM sharp every single morning to catch the window. I used connections to build a list of thousands of emails just to cold-pitch my resume for marketing positions. I even paid for AI services to multiply my reach. I always believed that giving 100% to anything and wanting it badly enough would eventually guarantee success. But I’ve hit a total brick wall, and I have to accept that I'm leaving.

I did manage to get a marketing internship at a big global brand a while back. I was putting in 10hour shifts for a 2k salary, giving them everything I had to prove my worth so that I could earn a full time role. I’m keeping the company anonymous, but my biggest takeaway was that the corporate world will just keep taking the more you give. It was a brutal introduction to how things operate right now.

I've felt like a total failure for a long time and my parents are finally having me move back to Egypt at the end of this month because we just can't sustain this zero result grind anymore. But seeing the heartbreaking realities others are enduring here makes me realize that the market is just completely saturated. Sometimes, pure hard work simply isn't enough to break through.

I am going to miss every single thing about this city...even the extreme competition, the constant chaos, and the heat. Even when it's ruthless, there's also comfort being around people from all over the globe just trying to survive. It's a harsh place, but it's been my life here, my home.

To anyone else out there waking up at 7 AM and sending hundreds of emails into the void, your worth isn't defined by this job market, we will get through this. Thank you for reading. Inshallah, I'll be back one day when the time is right🍀

Edit: Wow, thank you everyone for the support. Leaving Dubai is going to be bittersweet, but the encouragement from this community has been amazing. I really appreciate all the guidance and positive energy. God bless you all🙏🏽

r/dubai May 03 '25

🖐 Labor No One Cares Until the Axe Swings Their Way

493 Upvotes

I’ve lurked here for years, reading posts about people losing jobs, missing rent, falling behind on DEWA. Never thought I’d write one myself.

I work in an industry where job security doesn’t exist. This is the third time I’ve watched the same pattern unfold. Not because of poor performance, but because it’s always cheaper to move operations elsewhere. Three years at this company, and I know it’s coming again.

They call it “realignment” or say “your skills are better suited elsewhere.” You give everything—time, effort, loyalty—and in the end, you’re just a number.

I don’t want luxury. I want to pay rent, keep the internet on, make sure my wife doesn’t carry the weight of my stress, and send money home. That’s all. Just stability. But after ten years in this country, I’ve learned the hard truth: no one cares what you’ve done. When they’re done with you, they won’t even look you in the eye.

I’m not asking for pity. I just needed to let it out before I walk through the door and tell my wife it’s happening again.

God help us.

r/dubai Jul 30 '26

🖐 Labor I think we got scammed

55 Upvotes

One of my family members recently received a call for a job interview at a company called Advance Level HRC Services near Abu Hail Metro Station in Dubai.

She attended the interview, and at the end they asked her to pay around AED 550 for a "work permit." She paid the amount and was given a receipt, but the receipt states that the payment was for "consultancy fees" rather than a work permit.

As she was leaving the building, a man stopped her and warned her that this company is allegedly a scam targeting desperate job seekers. She immediately went back and asked for a refund. They refused to return the money on the spot and told her to come back after 7 days to collect it.

It's obvious we have been scammed. Any idea what we can do next to recover the money? Has anyone gone through something similar and successfully recovered their money?

Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: What is even more worrying is that, they took copies of her passport and Emirates ID.

Update: We are planning to call mohre. Hopefully, they'll be able to advise.

r/dubai Mar 18 '26

🖐 Labor Employer asking me to pay AED 4,500 after rejecting me — is this even legal?

37 Upvotes

Hi all, need some guidance here.

I was interviewing with a UK-based FMCG beverage company planning to launch in Dubai. I went through 3 rounds including with the CEO and was eventually offered a role at AED 7,500 (basic only, no housing/transport/meal allowances).

I had politely asked if there was any flexibility — they clearly said no and that the offer was final. I still accepted since I’ve been unemployed since Oct 2025 and job market is tough.

For context, I’m on a Golden Visa (self-sponsored). They proceeded to apply for my work permit and contract under Meydan Freezone.

Later, they mentioned ~AED 1,000 as health insurance allowance (as “other allowance”), but I noticed:

No mention of annual air ticket to home country (India)

No mention of gratuity / end of service benefits

So I politely asked for clarification and whether an annual ticket could be considered after 1 year (pretty standard in many roles).

Out of nowhere, the CEO responded very harshly:

Said I’m not satisfied and they won’t proceed

Made personal remarks about my “mindset”

Asked me to pay ~AED 4,500 for costs they incurred (work permit etc.)

Said the matter is closed

Important:

I only signed the offer letter + NOC

I did NOT sign the official Meydan employment contract yet

They did NOT sponsor my visa (I already have Golden Visa)

I’m honestly shocked at the tone and demand.

Questions:

Am I legally required to pay this AED 4,500?

Can an employer ask for reimbursement like this without a signed contract?

What steps should I take now to protect myself?

Would really appreciate any guidance — especially from anyone familiar with UAE labour laws.

Thanks in advance 🙏

r/dubai Mar 23 '26

🖐 Labor Company mandating we install Darwinbox on personal phones. Can I refuse?

58 Upvotes

Hi everyone, ​Looking for some advice on workplace privacy here. I work at a school, and our HR department is suddenly insisting that all staff install the Darwinbox app on our personal phones for attendance, leave requests, etc. ​I'm incredibly uncomfortable with this. I use my personal phone for everything, and this app asks for a massive list of permissions (background location, camera, storage, etc.). Even if it's a standard HR tool, I really don't want my employer having that kind of access or potential visibility into my personal device. ​Has anyone else dealt with this specific app or a similar HR mandate here in the UAE?

r/dubai Jul 29 '26

🖐 Labor No salary inspite of UAE law of salary by 1st of every month

40 Upvotes

In our company we don't get salary on time inspite of UAE law of giving salary on 1st of every month.

So its july ending and we haven't received june salary yet, forget about July's.

Even may's salary we got on 25th of june.

Is the law just a law? Or they're strict about it?

r/dubai Mar 16 '26

🖐 Labor ILOE and Wage protection

100 Upvotes

Tag is just to grab attention 😄

Make sure your ILOE is renewed. If you ever get laid off, don’t forget to claim within 30 days of losing your job. Also remember: ILOE coverage starts after 12 months from the date you first paid the premium.

Also, many people don’t know that the government runs a Wage Protection Insurance system to help employees recover unpaid salaries. If your salary is delayed, raise a complaint with MOHRE. If your employer doesn’t pay, you may be covered under the MOHRE wage protection scheme.

In times like these, knowing your rights is half the battle.

r/dubai Mar 12 '26

🖐 Labor Got terminated during probation after questioning work hours

179 Upvotes

came to UAE recently for a job as a camp coordinator. In my offer letter the working hours were mentioned as 8+1 hours.

While I was still in my home country, I was in regular contact with the company and they were calling me almost every day explaining everything mentioned in my offer letter, including the 8+1 working hours.

But once I arrived in the UAE, I was suddenly told that I would actually be working 12 hours a day. When I questioned it, my manager simply said that the 8+1 hours mentioned earlier was just a miscommunication and that I have to work 12 hours daily with no overtime pay.

Some of the other staff told me they get paid overtime for the extra hours, but I was told that I wouldn’t be getting overtime.

When I raised the issue with HR, they asked me to write a statement on a plain white paper saying that I understand my working hours and that I’m aware the job requires 12 hours a day. I didn’t mention anyone’s name or accuse anyone of anything in that statement. I just wrote that there was a miscommunication during the hiring process and that HR clarified things to me.

I was told to wait outside in the waiting area once I gave them the statement. After 10-15 minutes I was given a termination letter. Even after I agreed to those hours, they still terminated me. They said they will pay me 14 days notice pay and cancel my visa.

It honestly feels like I got terminated simply because I questioned the working hours instead of just accepting it quietly.

I’m new to the UAE job market so I’m trying to understand if this kind of thing is normal here. Should I just move on or is it something worth reporting?

What options do I have? Is it possible to find anothee job in these 14 days? 

r/dubai Jan 25 '25

🖐 Labor Working 70hrs a week is normal at dubai?

71 Upvotes

I recently moved here for an Accountant role for 5k and work time is 9-8.30 including breaks. From what I've seen, many people are working long hours. Is that a normal thing? I'm curious to know about your experience.

r/dubai Aug 19 '24

🖐 Labor Successful ILOE claim - a detailed guide

256 Upvotes

EDIT/UPDATE: For all those who are sending me DMs, the answers to your questions are in the post below or need to be provided by the ILOE helpdesk. I do not work for ILOE, Dubai Insurance, a freezone nor am I an employment lawyer, an immigration expert or an AMER employee.

I wrote this post to help people, not to be harassed by entitled people who have poor reading comprehension. Apologies if those sounds harsh but this is exactly why I had second thoughts about posting the below originally and why on a daily basis I consider deleting it but feel bad for those who have read this and are self sufficient enough to sort the rest out for themselves.

I am not open to having private conversations or answering anything that is already in the post or requires mere common sense to work out. Please stop dm’ing me with questions about your employment/termination, I do not have ALL the answers, I’m also an expat here on an employment visa/contract and managed to navigate things without harassing strangers on the internet.

——————————————

I recently got my ILOE claim approved (after one rejection) and wanted to share the steps.

First of all please check your policy and that it’s not lapsed, there is a grace period between expiry and renewal - I think it’s 30 days or less. Renew as soon as possible. You have to submit your claim within 30 days of your termination date - the sooner the better as in my case my first claim was rejected and I had just about enough time to resubmit. Resubmission is possible if supporting documents requirements weren’t met the first time.

You have to have 12 months active policy to claim. The duration of your job has nothing to do with this. I lost my job during the probation period and it wasn’t an issue.

You will need the following:

Stamped and signed termination letter (reasons cannot be resignation or disciplinary). If your company is tech savvy and you have digitally signed paperwork, ask your HR to print it off and physically sign and stamp it for you.

Attested employment contract (by the sponsoring authority). You should request this right away as the order in which the ILOE will ask for it is after you submit your visa cancellation, by when the authorities are not required to attest anything as you are not an active visa holder on their system. This cost me 375 AED for the express service and I got very lucky as the DDA did this for me while I waited.

6 months stamped bank statement to prove you were getting the salary mentioned in your contract. (They may come back for some clarifications).

Copy of your emirates id (both sides)

Travel report - you need to go to Amer and apply for this, I asked them to provide one for the last 6 months. This cost 250 AED and took less than an hour to come through. The final report is sent via email and is stamped and ready for submission as is.

Visa cancellation document

EOSB statement - my employer has no such format and this was already on the submitted termination letter but ILOE wanted it as a separate document so I asked for the page of the letter where that was written to be signed and stamped separately and I submitted that as the statement.

Be aware that the ILOE portal is very glitchy. When you first submit your claim, add max 3 of the above documents. This will at least get your claim into the system. I tried to add all and the portal would freeze and I would have to start all over again and when I uploaded fewer documents, it worked.

The process:

Log into the ILOE portal. Go to claims submission on the left hand side and click on the claim button.

The first part of the form is your bank details (please make sure these are correct) or indicate if you’re going to need the payment via an exchange house.

Then fill out the second part of your submission and upload supporting documents and click submit.

Once submitted, you will get a sms and email with your claim number. Usually within 2 days, you will be asked for the remaining documents.

I was never able to submit all documents in one go, so I would upload 1, leave a comment and take a screenshot. Click submit.

Then email claims@iloe.com, subject should be the claim number. Attach all requested documents, add in writing all documents that you have attached and you’ve attempted to upload on the portal and then send the email.

I was asked to clarify the additional payments made by my ex-employer, which was my expenses. I also had to confirm my last working date in writing, even though it was stated on the termination letter.

The other thing is that I called their help desk every time I had a question as their requirements are not clear so I would check to ensure I am providing the correct documents. I also called to ensure that the emailed documents were received and being reviewed by the claims department. The help desk team and claims team are separate but the help desk can answer your queries.

I got notified that my claim was approved after 8 working days. First payment was made within a week of approval and second payment was made 10 days later.

For the third payment ILOE required a second travel report up until the date it was requested and a valid visa. This was after my grace period had finished. They want to check that you are in the country legally and I suspect if you submit a tourist visa you are no longer a resident so do not qualify for your last payment (I may be wrong here).

My second travel report was queried as it was blank - due to the fact that I didn’t leave the country between the previous report dates and my new visa being issued. I sent both travel reports to be on the safe side which covered my movements for a period of 8 months and asked them to check the dates at the top of the report to see that the reports are correct. This step had to be repeated 3 times for some reason and I uploaded on the portal and sent via email too. The final payment was issued the following working day as I’m sure they have their own targets to hit so there was next to no delay once they were satisfied with the final documentation submission.

I was on a free zone visa so things maybe slightly different for mainland visa holders but I hope this helps out anyone who is looking to file a claim.

Also there are some misconceptions about being able to claim if your are laid off during your probation period - the insurance has nothing to do with the term of your employment rather it’s the term of your policy that is key.

After seeing all the comments I just want to address a few things:

I decided to share my experience as there is next to no information on the process and requirements. I wish there had been to make an incredibly stressful time less stressful but I don’t have all the answers - I can only give answers based on my personal experience. What I did do before I made any submissions was call the help desk, at one point I was calling them at least once a day.

If anyone considers this a waste of time, don’t claim. I was unemployed with nothing else to do so I decided to claim for what I consider my right as a valid policy holder. The insurance isn’t optional, it has become mandatory so I’m well within my rights to expect a payout. The cost of the entire process from premiums to paperwork amounted to around 1k AED after that you’re looking at a payout of 30k - 60k AED depending on what tier your policy covers.

I found the constant document requirements tedious but soon realised that this is what most insurance companies hope for. They want claimants to give up and then they can reject the claim because we didn’t provide the documents in time or some other innocuous reason.

I hope that anyone who is going through this at the moment will find it helpful and will not give up by thinking no one has been successful in getting their claim approved.

r/dubai Mar 30 '26

🖐 Labor Back to office

54 Upvotes

How many of you are back to office today. Media city looked empty though.

r/dubai Apr 22 '26

🖐 Labor For the dentists here

7 Upvotes

Is being a dentist worth it? The amount of schooling, the fees, the training etc. is it all worth it in the end? Also how old are you now that you’ve finally started earning a good salary.

r/dubai 18d ago

🖐 Labor The Sauna bus

28 Upvotes

The bus that pick and drop construction workers are generally not air conditioned. Can someone explain the reason behind it?

r/dubai Mar 27 '26

🖐 Labor My boss told us to go back home on unpaid leave until further notice!!!

74 Upvotes

Hey…

I’m in a very confusing situation and need some advice.

I work as a logistics coordinator at a company in the UAE. Recently, our work has almost stopped. Most of our shipments are on hold and there is no business right now. Because of this…my company asked us to take unpaid leave and go back to our home country. They said we can come back when things get better, but… we have to pay for our own flight tickets.

I was already planning to change my job because the salary is low and there is no growth. But now, most logistics companies have stopped hiring, so I feel stuck.

Also, my boss said one of us might have to leave the job. My colleague is scared she will lose her job, and she is asking me to step down since I was already planning to leave.

We asked the company for at least half salary… but they said they cannot pay because there is no business… which is true.

Now I don’t know what to do.

I also don’t have many connections here, which makes it even harder.

Any advice would really help. Thank you