Using recruitment agencies in the UAE: licences, fees, terms

What a MOHRE licence covers

The Decree-Law states that it is not permissible to carry on the activity of employment or mediation to recruit or employ workers except under a licence from the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE), on conditions set in the executive regulations.^[1] Those regulations distinguish two kinds of agency, and a single licence can cover both.^[1][2]

The security is held throughout the licence, with insurance allowed as an alternative, and the licence is renewed annually subject to checks that the conditions are still met. MOHRE may suspend or revoke a licence if a condition is no longer met, if documents prove incorrect, if the agency is involved in forced labour or human trafficking, or if workers' wages go unpaid.^[2]

What to check before you sign

Ask for the licence and read its category. If the agency introduces a candidate whom you will employ, that is mediation. If the agency employs the worker and sends them to you, that is a different arrangement, with different duties for wages, gratuity and day-to-day management, and it needs a licence of the other kind.^[2]

A worker may not be employed without a MOHRE work permit under either arrangement, and the government portal says it is illegal to work in the UAE without a valid permit.^[1][3] The employer's responsibility for a permit does not move to an agency because the agency found the person. Our guide on recruitment in the UAE covers the permit and the offer in more detail.

The sources reviewed do not describe a public register of licensed agencies, so this guide cannot say where to verify a licence. Ask MOHRE how to confirm one, and keep the answer on file.

Who pays whom

The Decree-Law prohibits an employer from charging a worker the fees and costs of recruitment and employment, directly or indirectly.^[1] The agency fee is therefore a cost of the business and not of the candidate. It is sensible to ask an agency, in writing, that it charges candidates nothing for the introduction, because a complaint from a candidate will land on the name on the brief.

The employer's own probation rights are separate from the agency's terms. Under the Decree-Law probation is capped at six months, may be used only once with the same employer, and requires written notice at least 14 days before termination if the employer ends the contract during it.^[1]

Fees and replacement terms

Public data on what agencies charge in the UAE is thin, and this guide did not find a UAE professional-body survey or regulator publication. Industry sources, which are secondary and mostly from the UK, suggest a permanent placement fee of 15 to 25 per cent of first-year salary, with 20 per cent a frequent benchmark for technical or specialist roles and higher for senior or hard-to-fill ones.^[4] Treat that as directional and not authoritative.

On replacement or refund, the structure industry sources describe is a sliding-scale refund if the candidate leaves within a set window, commonly 8 to 12 weeks, with the percentage falling over the period. Another source cites a 90-day standard, negotiable down to 60 days for highly specialised roles.^[5] The two roughly agree, and neither is checked against a primary contract. The point for an employer is that these are negotiable terms and not rules. Ask for these in writing:

• the fee, how it is calculated (basic salary or total package) and when it falls due;
• the replacement or refund period and what triggers it;
• payment terms;
• whether you may hire a candidate the agency introduced after the agreement ends, and on what terms.

Ways of working with agencies

Industry sources describe three postures. An ad hoc approach uses any agency for a one-off hire with no standing contract. A preferred supplier list is a panel of vetted agencies whose terms are negotiated once and applied to every role, used mainly by larger employers. A managed service or recruitment process outsourcing arrangement has one provider run all or part of the hiring function.^[5][6] Most mid-sized employers use a blend.

The same sources distinguish three ways of paying. Contingency pays only on a hire and lets an employer brief several agencies at once, which looks cheap but can lower the effort each agency gives the role. Exclusive contingency gives one agency the role, still paid on success. Retained search pays in stages regardless of outcome and is used for senior roles where an unfilled seat is costly.^[7][8] An employer might give an agency exclusivity for a short, written period on a role that matters, and keep its own team on roles it can fill alone. That is a way of working, and not a recommendation.

Who owns a candidate

The most common commercial dispute is the same candidate arriving from two agencies, or from an agency and the employer's own team. Industry sources describe the UK approach, in which the question turns on which introduction was the effective cause of the hire and not on who sent a CV first.^[9] This guide found no UAE authority on the point and gives no view on how a UAE court would decide.

The practical answer is to write the rule into the terms of business and keep a dated record of each submission, so ownership can be shown and not argued. Many employers set aside a candidate who arrives from two sources. That avoids a dispute and may cost a good candidate, which is why the record is worth keeping.

Data, brand and the exit

An agency handles personal data about candidates and often about the employer's staff and clients. Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 has applied since 2 January 2022. The official text requires processors to act on the controller's instructions under contracts that set the scope and purpose of processing, and it leaves breach deadlines to executive regulations.^[13][10] Law-firm sources in 2025 and 2026 reported that those regulations had not been issued, and claims of their issue on non-official sites could not be matched to a published text.^[11] Ask the agency for its data terms in writing: what it keeps, for how long, where, and with whom it shares it. Our guide on candidate data covers the law.

Industry commentary on why employers drop agencies is consistent but qualitative, with no survey figure behind it. The reasons given are poor candidate quality from rushed screening, a poor candidate experience that reflects on the employer's name, targets that reward speed over fit, and no visibility between brief and shortlist.^[12] Each can be handled by a clause or a routine: a screening standard, an agreed message to candidates, a weekly pipeline update and the right to see the submission log.

When to go without an agency

Sources describe a common split. The employer's own team takes repeatable roles where it can build sourcing and where fit matters most. An agency takes scarce skills, markets the employer does not cover, or a surge.^[12] An agency cannot repair a broken internal process: if candidates wait two weeks for a first call, the fix is the call.

The Works ATS, which The Works Group sells and which is in build, records the date of each of nine stages for each person and a source from a list of nine.^[14] A shared sheet with the dates of each submission and a signed set of terms is a fair answer for an employer that uses an agency a few times a year.

Questions