After probation, resign in writing and serve 30 to 90 days' notice. On probation, give at least one month's written notice to move employer inside the UAE. Wages and other entitlements are due within 14 days. Do not start the new job until its work permit is issued.
Go to: Your notice · Probation · What you are paid · The new permit · After the residence is cancelled
Your notice after probation
This is for the mainland private sector under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021. DIFC and ADGM have their own employment laws.
Either side may end the contract for a legitimate reason, on 30 to 90 days' written notice, the same both ways unless the difference favours you. You are paid your full last wage, and you work if asked. Waiving or shortening it keeps that period's rights. Outside the four cases below, leaving early owes a notice-period allowance for the unworked days, on your last wage, even if no loss is shown.
Leave without notice, keeping end-of-service rights, only if:
- Breach of the contract, the decree or the resolutions: you tell the Ministry 14 working days before you leave, and the employer does not fix it after that notice.
- Assault or harassment at work by the employer or the legal representative, reported to the authorities and the Ministry within 5 working days of the day you could report it.
- Grave danger the employer knows and does not remove.
- Different work, without your written consent, past a necessity assignment of 90 days a year.
There is no further sum for ending a fixed-term contract on this notice.
If you are still on probation
Probation is at most 6 months from day one, once per employer. Passed and continued, it counts as service. A month in this law is 30 days.
- Another employer in the UAE: at least one month's written notice. The new employer pays the recruitment or contracting costs, unless otherwise agreed.
- Leaving the UAE: at least 14 days' written notice. If you return and a new permit is issued within 3 months of departure, the new employer pays those costs, unless you and the original employer agreed otherwise.
- The employer ends it: at least 14 days' written notice.
- A missed notice: that side pays the wage for the period, or the part left.
Leave the country without that notice and Article 9 bars a work permit for one year from departure. Under Article 11 of Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022 the Ministry may exempt skill, professional or knowledge levels in demand, family sponsorship, a golden visa, and categories the Minister sets. u.ae, updated 12 August 2026, states a wider ban from the day you depart: you ended the job during probation and the employer had not breached, a proven abandonment report, or a fictitious establishment. Exemptions there cover abandonment only. The texts do not match. A 30 to 90 day resignation after probation is not one of the three.
What your employer must pay, and when
Within 14 days of the end date, the employer pays your wages and the other entitlements under the decree, its resolutions, the contract or the establishment's rules.
A foreign full-time worker with one year of continuous service keeps the end-of-service benefit on resignation, paid on the basic wage. A UAE national's benefit follows the pensions legislation, not that calculation. See how to calculate the gratuity.
Unused leave is paid on the basic wage, including part of a year. The employer pays the ticket to the place of recruitment, or another agreed place, unless you have already joined another employer or the ending was attributed to you. The employer charges no recruitment or employment fees or costs, directly or indirectly. Official documents are not withheld, the passport is not confiscated, and you need no employer's permission to leave.
The move to a new work permit
You need a permit from the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation. The employer applies to cancel the old one. Cancellation asks you to sign that you agree and that you have received all labour dues. u.ae, updated 28 September 2026, asks for your signed letter that wages and end-of-service benefits were already received. Only the sponsor normally asks the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) to cancel the residence.
A transfer work permit, valid for two years, covers a move between establishments registered with the Ministry. It follows a term that ended and was not renewed, an ending during the term under Articles 42 and 45, or an employer ending not attributed to you. Resignation on the contractual notice is an Article 42 ending, so the permit is open. See open jobs on TalenDir.
Already in the UAE, sign the offer first. The contract reaches the Ministry within 14 days of arrival or of the status change. The employer pays the fees.
After the residence is cancelled
The pages do not agree on one grace period. Use the figure for your residence.
- Ceiling: Cabinet Resolution No. 65 of 2022, Article 64: not more than 6 months from cancellation or expiry. Category periods sit in a further resolution.
- u.ae, 28 September 2026: English, up to 6 months by category. Arabic, 1 month to 6 months by category.
- Dependents: 6 months from expiry or cancellation for a new residence (page updated 28 September 2026). Cancelling the sponsor's visa cancels theirs.
- Dubai private-sector residence: 60 days after the end or cancellation. No update date on 10 November 2026.
- A cancelled dependent: 30 days to leave, and the sponsor brings proof (GDRFA Dubai). No update date on 10 November 2026.
Check ICP, or GDRFA Dubai if it issued the residence. After the allowed days the fine is AED 50 a day, as u.ae states it (28 September 2026). Article 64 caps it at not more than AED 100 a day.
Official sources checked on 10 November 2026. Cover generated with AI for illustration.
