UAE Labour Violations Fell 15% In The First Half, With Prosecution Referrals Down 49%

The number of private sector establishments found violating UAE labour market legislation fell 15 percent in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period last year, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation has said.

Cases referred to the Public Prosecution fell considerably faster: down 49 percent to 490, from 962 in the first half of 2025. The ministry said this indicated a reduction in serious violations requiring referral to judicial authorities.

Inspection teams carried out around 212,000 visits during the six months.

How the inspections work now

The ministry attributes the improvement to stronger inspection and to a smart monitoring system using artificial intelligence, data analysis and risk indicators to direct inspectors toward establishments it judges higher-risk.

That is a meaningful operational change, and it is also the reason the year-on-year comparison needs care.

The ministry published percentages. It did not publish the underlying counts, except for the prosecution referrals.

What the gap between the two numbers might mean

A 15 percent fall in violating establishments alongside a 49 percent fall in prosecution referrals is a wide divergence.

The ministry's reading is that fewer serious cases arose. That is one explanation and a plausible one.

What can be said without qualification is that 490 cases still went to prosecutors in six months.

What employers are being caught doing

The most common breaches detected during inspections were employing workers without the required permits, failing to pay salaries through the Wage Protection System, and submitting incorrect information or documents to the ministry.

The second of those is the one that matters most to workers. The Wage Protection System exists to ensure salaries reach employees on time through traceable channels, and a failure to use it means wages that cannot be verified as paid. It remains among the most common violations despite the overall decline.

The ministry urged private sector establishments to secure all necessary permits and approvals before recruiting or employing workers, and to pay salaries through the system within the stipulated deadlines.

The penalties

Employing a worker without the proper permit can attract fines ranging from Dh100,000 to Dh1 million under the UAE Labour Law.

The same range applies to employers who bring workers into the country and then fail to provide them with a job, and to those who misuse work permits.

Salary payments are also subject to rules that took effect on June 1 this year. ⚠️ Those rules came into force partway through the period the ministry is reporting on, which complicates any attempt to attribute the six-month figures to them.

What to watch

Whether the ministry publishes absolute numbers. Percentages without totals cannot be independently assessed. A count of establishments inspected, establishments found in breach, and workers affected would allow the improvement to be measured rather than announced.

Whether the prosecution referral rate keeps falling. A drop from 962 to 490 in a year is steep. If the second half shows a similar decline, the question of whether fewer cases are arising or fewer are being escalated becomes harder to leave open.

The effect of the June 1 wage rules. They apply to the whole of the second half. The next reporting period is the first clean test of whether they change WPS compliance, which is where the worker-level consequences sit.