HRMS software for
UAE free zone companies.
HR and payroll for companies licensed in a UAE free zone: the federal labour law most zones follow, DEWS for DIFC firms, permits through the zone, and records that keep one establishment's people and files apart from the next.
What it does for free-zone employers
- Per-Establishment WPS Files
- Gratuity Under Decree-Law 33
- DIFC DEWS Contributions
- GPSSA for Emiratis
- Visa Steps and Expiry
- Medical Cover Tracking
- Probation Reminders
- Arabic Payslips
Free zone is not free of labour law.
Most zones follow the federal law. Two financial centres write their own, and both have changed them in the last two years.
| Most free zones | DIFC | ADGM | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment law | Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 | DIFC Employment Law No. 2 of 2019 | ADGM Employment Regulations 2024 |
| Work permit | The zone authority | The DIFC Authority | ADGM |
| End of service | Gratuity, capped at two years' wage | DEWS contributions since 1 February 2020 | Gratuity with no cap, or a qualifying scheme |
| Basic pay used | The contract's basic salary | At least 50% of total wage | At least 50% of total pay |
| Annual leave | 30 calendar days | 20 working days | 20 working days |
| Sick leave | Up to 90 days | 60 working days | 60 days |
| Final pay due | Within 14 days | Within 14 days | Within 21 days |
| Wage protection | Depends on the zone | Outside MOHRE WPS | Outside MOHRE WPS |
Employing people in a free zone, briefly.
The federal law reaches into the zones
Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 applies to all private-sector establishments in the State, and the financial free zones have employment laws of their own. The UAE Government portal says something different: that people working in free zones are generally not governed by the Labour Law, that each zone authority has its own employment law, and that contract terms must accord with the Labour Law. We follow the Decree-Law's text, so a company in JAFZA, DMCC, DAFZA, SAIF Zone or RAKEZ starts from the federal leave, notice and gratuity, then checks its zone's rules. Its work permits, contracts and establishment card come from the zone rather than from MOHRE.
Residence visas still come from the federal immigration authorities: GDRFA for a zone in Dubai, ICP elsewhere.
DIFC: contributions instead of gratuity
In the Dubai International Financial Centre end-of-service pay stopped building up on 1 February 2020. Since then employers have paid monthly into a qualifying scheme, most often DEWS, at 5.83 per cent of basic pay for the first five years of service and 8.33 per cent after. Service before February 2020 still earns gratuity, paid at the end. For both, basic pay is counted as at least half of the total wage, whatever the contract says.
ADGM: gratuity without the cap
Abu Dhabi Global Market replaced its 2019 regulations with the ADGM Employment Regulations 2024 on 1 April 2025. Gratuity keeps the federal daily rates but loses the two-year cap, is owed whatever the reason employment ends, and can be replaced by a qualifying pension or savings scheme. Final pay is due within 21 days, and paying in lieu of notice needs the employee's agreement.
Wage protection depends on the zone
MOHRE's Wage Protection System is built around companies registered with MOHRE, and free zones decide for themselves how their companies prove salaries were paid. Some require a WPS file every month; others do not. DIFC and ADGM sit outside MOHRE's system altogether. Ask your zone what it expects before assuming either way.
What DenwaysHR does in a free zone.
The parts a system can do, kept per establishment, so a group with companies in two zones and one on the mainland stays tidy.
Every licence its own establishment
Each trade licence in the group is an establishment with its own identifiers and bank details, and branches sit underneath it with their own weekends, holidays and managers.
- WPS employer ID, MOHRE establishment ID and bank routing code per establishment
- Branches in different emirates and zones under one account
- Branch-scoped access, so a site manager sees their own people
- One payroll run per establishment, never mixing two
DEWS, gratuity and GPSSA from one payroll
DIFC contributions, federal gratuity and Emirati pension contributions are each worked out from basic pay and length of service, and each has its own line on the payslip.
- DEWS at 5.83% under five years and 8.33% after, with a monthly schedule
- DEWS per DIFC establishment, with gratuity for service outside the scheme
- GPSSA under the 1999 or the 2023 pension law, by joining date
- Rates editable if your scheme or the authority confirms different ones
Probation, contracts and documents on a timer
Zone-issued permits, contracts and establishment documents each carry a date, and the compliance page shows what is about to lapse across every establishment at once.
- Probation reminders 30, 14, 7 and 1 days before the end
- Contracts, permits, visas and IDs with expiry alerts
- ILOE enrolment tracked for every employee
- Everything per establishment, or the whole group at once
Final pay in a free zone: 14 days, or 21 in ADGM
When someone leaves, the settlement is worked out line by line from the record: final salary, untaken leave on basic pay, gratuity, notice pay and anything owed back to the company.
- Gratuity at 21 days of basic for each of the first five years and 30 after, capped at two years
- Loan, advance and unreturned-asset recoveries shown as their own lines
- A signable settlement statement in English, Arabic or both
- Paid through its own WPS file once approved
Where DenwaysHR stops in a free zone.
What is built in for a free zone team, and what stays outside the product.
Built in
- Separate establishments, branches and WPS files
- DEWS per DIFC establishment, gratuity for other service
- GPSSA contributions for Emirati employees
Set up by you
- DIFC and ADGM leave in working days, as their own leave types
- Notice periods and probation from each contract
- Eid and other moon-sighted holidays, as they are announced
Not built
- Leave rules that change by themselves with an establishment's zone
- ADGM's uncapped gratuity: the calculation applies the federal cap
- Submitting to a zone's own portal: files are produced for your team to upload
Questions
Free zone questions, answered.
Does the UAE labour law apply to free zone companies?
In most zones, yes. Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 applies to free-zone companies as well as mainland ones, except in zones with an employment law of their own. DIFC and ADGM are the two that matter for most employers. A company in JAFZA, DMCC or RAKEZ follows the federal rules on leave, notice and gratuity, while its permits come from the zone.
Does DenwaysHR support DEWS?
Yes. Mark an establishment as DIFC with its scheme start date and payroll works out each month's contribution at 5.83 or 8.33 per cent of basic pay by length of service, adds a DEWS line to the payslip, produces a monthly contribution schedule, and pays gratuity at exit only for service outside the scheme. It is set per DIFC establishment, not for the whole account.
We have a DIFC company and a mainland company. Can they share an account?
Yes. Each establishment records where it is registered, so DEWS applies only to people working at the DIFC establishment and mainland staff stay on gratuity. Someone who moves between the two has their service split: gratuity for the mainland days, DEWS for the DIFC days from its start date. Salary files stay separate per establishment.
Is the ADGM gratuity calculated correctly?
For long-serving ADGM employees it is not. The calculation follows the federal formula, including the two-year cap that ADGM removed from 1 April 2025, so settlements for long-serving ADGM employees need checking by hand. Leave in working days, notice and probation can all be set up to ADGM's terms.
Do free zone companies have to use WPS?
Whether WPS applies depends on the zone. MOHRE's system is built for MOHRE-registered companies, and each free zone sets its own rule for showing that salaries were paid. DIFC and ADGM are outside MOHRE WPS. DenwaysHR builds a WPS file per establishment for employers on it, and a plain bank-transfer file to upload to your own bank for staff of a DIFC or ADGM establishment, or a free zone you mark as outside it.
Can payslips be issued in Arabic?
Yes. Payslips and settlement statements can be printed in English, in Arabic laid out right to left, in both, or in each employee's own language, and the web app itself has a full Arabic interface.
Sources
- UAE Government portal: Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, English text (PDF, not an official translation)
- UAE Government portal: Working in free zones
- UAE Government portal: Payment of salaries and wages
- DIFC Authority: Employment Law, DIFC Law No. 2 of 2019 (PDF)
- ADGM rulebook: Employment Regulations 2024
- ADGM rulebook: End of service gratuity
- ADGM rulebook: Late payment after termination
Official pages, read on 2 November 2026. The law is the authority; check it, or ask your adviser, before acting on a figure.
Free zone reading
Elsewhere in the UAE
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