Luxury.me

Wages and agency fees for household staff in Dubai and the Emirates

As of 25 October 2026

This guide summarises what a private household in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the other Emirates must pay household staff, which floors the countries of origin set, what recruitment offices may charge and actually charge, and which fees the household bears as sponsor. Laws, regulations and fees come from official sources of the Emirates and the countries of origin, the prices from the websites of the offices in the register; every figure carries its source, all retrieved on 25 October 2026. The English law texts are translations, Arabic prevails. The text is an orientation, not legal advice and not a pay recommendation. The rules on licences, the standard contract, sponsorship and visas are in the guide Hiring household staff in Dubai and the Emirates.

At a glance

Wages and benefits in kind under the Domestic Workers Law

There is no statutory minimum wage in the Emirates; the government portal states that the Labour Law provides none, and Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 on domestic workers names no amount. The wage is the figure agreed in the Ministry's standard contract including all allowances; it is paid monthly in dirhams within ten days of falling due, against a receipt or other proof recognised by the Ministry, and runs from the day of entry into the country. An employer who fails to pay on time risks a fine of AED 500 to 5,000 per worker; if the wage stays unpaid for more than two months, the Ministry may suspend the employer's file, and if it is cut below the agreed amount, the worker may leave after notifying the Ministry.

Deductions are tightly limited: for damage caused by a grave mistake at most a quarter of the repair cost as estimated by the Ministry and only with the worker's consent or the Ministry's approval, for court-ordered debts at most a quarter of the wage; the household may withhold no other payments, directly or indirectly. On top of the wage come the employer's benefits in kind: suitable accommodation, meals and work clothing for full-time workers, medical care under the country's health system or health insurance, a return ticket every two years and repatriation at the end, plus 30 days of paid annual leave. The law provides an end of service gratuity and leaves its calculation to the Cabinet; we found no official figure for it.

Wage floors of the countries of origin

Because the Emirates set no minimum wage, the floors come from the governments of the countries of origin, which check their nationals' contracts before departure:

Why there are no wage statistics

Neither the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre nor the statistics centres of Dubai and Abu Dhabi publish wages by occupation. The Abu Dhabi yearbook shows private households as employers only as a share of the employed, 20.8 percent in 2019, and Dubai's labour tables hold distributions by activity, occupation and nationality but no wages. For butlers, housekeepers, cooks, chauffeurs, nannies, tutors, personal assistants, gardeners, carers or security staff in private households there is therefore no official figure; the only official amounts are the floors of the countries of origin and the benefits in kind under the law.

What recruitment offices may charge

Placing and temporarily supplying domestic workers requires a MoHRE licence. The offices bear the recruitment costs themselves and may charge the worker nothing. Towards the household the price packages approved by the Ministry apply: an office that departs from them pays a fine of AED 5,000 per case, one that does not display the prices AED 2,000, one that charges additional amounts AED 5,000, one that refunds late AED 2,000 per case. The Ministry publishes the amounts of the packages on its website, which we could not read; press reports name packages by nationality, which we do not adopt.

If the worker proves unsuitable during the six-month probation or leaves without lawful reason, the office must provide a replacement or refund the fees pro rata to the remaining contract period, within two weeks of the worker's return; if the ground arises in the first month or the worker proves medically unfit during probation, the full fee is refundable. For temporary employment through an office, the office contracts with the household, remains the employer and is jointly liable with the household for the worker's dues; it must house and feed the worker between assignments. VAT is 5 percent and applies to most supplies of goods and services, so generally to the offices' fees too; government fees such as the Dubai entry visa carry it as well.

Prices published in the register

Of the 14 entries for recruitment offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, one states prices on its website; the rest quote on request. The Excellence Center Tadbeer in Abu Dhabi offers live-in maids and nannies under Tadbeer sponsorship from AED 2,500 a month including salary, visa and insurance, and two-year recruitment under the family's own sponsorship from a one-time fee of AED 5,000, visa and insurance paid separately; visa processing from AED 6,999 for two years and a five-day trial at AED 105 per day (as of 25 October 2026, source on the entry page). The overview is on the page Agencies with published fees. Of the 14 lifestyle concierges in the two cities, Settra in Dubai states prices: AED 3,500 once for 30 days, AED 4,900 a month for up to 15 tasks and AED 6,500 a month with unlimited requests and a three-month minimum, as launch prices until the end of 2026 (list prices AED 3,890, 5,445 and 7,220), third-party costs billed at cost.

What the household pays as sponsor

No social insurance contributions arise for foreign domestic workers; the household's costs are government fees, insurance and the benefits in kind under the law. The federal authority ICP charges in its domestic worker package a guarantee of AED 5,000 a year for foreign sponsors, an application fee of AED 100, AED 100 a year for the residence permit, a deposit fee of AED 20 and AED 100 for the smart service, AED 500 for a change of status inside the country; the Emirates ID costs AED 100 a year plus AED 100 for the smart service. In Abu Dhabi the TAMM portal lists AED 215 a year for a domestic worker's residence permit for citizens and AED 5,215 for residents. In Dubai the entry visa at the GDRFA costs AED 200 plus 5 percent VAT, AED 500 when applied for inside the country, plus AED 10 each for the knowledge and innovation dirham; the medical fitness test for domestic workers costs AED 320, AED 750 in the premium service, and the pregnancy test AED 50 on top.

Instead of the bank guarantee of AED 3,000, the household can take out insurance for the worker's dues for AED 105 over 30 months. In Dubai the sponsor must insure domestic staff at least under the Essential Benefits Plan, whose premium the health authority set at AED 500 to 700 per person a year in 2014; we found no more recent official band. In Abu Dhabi every month without insurance costs a fine of AED 300; in the northern Emirates the federal compulsory policy applies at AED 320 a year. Details on sponsorship, visas and insurance are in the guide Hiring household staff in Dubai and the Emirates.

Sources

All sources retrieved on 25 October 2026.

  1. UAE Government, Payment of salaries and wages, as of 14 October 2026, u.ae; Domestic workers, as of 6 October 2026, u.ae
  2. Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 Concerning Domestic Workers, articles 1, 7, 10, 11, 15, 16 and 22, uaelegislation.gov.ae; Cabinet Resolution No. 106 of 2022, articles 4, 6, 9, 10 and 15, uaelegislation.gov.ae; Schedules 1 and 2 (fines), uaelegislation.gov.ae; Ministerial Resolution No. 674 of 2022, u.ae
  3. Department of Migrant Workers (Philippines), Advisory No. 07 s. 2023, 17 February 2023, dmw.gov.ph; Advisory No. 25 s. 2025, 22 August 2025, dmw.gov.ph; Philippine News Agency via PTV News, 22 August 2025, ptvnews.ph
  4. Embassy of Nepal in Abu Dhabi, Implementation of the Revised Minimum Wage for Nepali Workers in the UAE, 25 June 2025, nepalembassy.gov.np
  5. Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi, Minimum Wages, as of 12 June 2025, indembassyuae.gov.in; Process for recruitment of Indian female workers through Emigrate system, indembassyuae.gov.in
  6. Embassy of Sri Lanka in the UAE, Registration of Individual Job Contracts (Domestic Workers), embassy.gov.lk; KemenP2MI (Indonesia), news of 19 March 2025, kp2mi.go.id
  7. Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi, Statistical Yearbook 2020, Labour Force, scad.gov.ae; Dubai Statistics Center, Labour, dsc.gov.ae
  8. UAE Government, Value Added Tax, as of 30 March 2026, u.ae
  9. ICP, Issuing Residency Permit, as of 11 December 2024, icp.gov.ae; New Identity Card Issuance, icp.gov.ae; TAMM Abu Dhabi, Issuance of a New Employment Contract, Domestic Workers, tamm.abudhabi; GDRFA Dubai, Visa Issuance for Foreigners linked with Job Contract, gdrfad.gov.ae
  10. Dubai Health, Medical Fitness Screening Packages, dubaihealth.ae; Dubai Health Insurance Corporation, Employer's Information Pack, 1 October 2014, isahd.ae.pdf); ISAHD FAQ, as of 25 March 2026, isahd.ae; UAE Government, Getting a health insurance, as of 28 October 2025, u.ae; Department of Health Abu Dhabi, news of 6 July 2022, doh.gov.ae
  11. Luxury.me, entries of the office and concierge named, with source and retrieval date on each entry page; overview Agencies with published fees

Guides