Insights Payroll
Maternity Leave UAE 2026: The 60-Day Rule and How to Post It Through Payroll
Maternity leave UAE rules under Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021 — 45 days full pay, 15 days half pay, payroll posting, gratuity treatment and HR documentation for SME employers.
Key takeaways
- 60 calendar days total maternity leave — 45 days full pay plus 15 days half pay — no minimum service requirement
- Premature birth, miscarriage after 6 months, sick child trigger additional leave entitlements under Article 30 of the Employment Law
- Gratuity continues to accrue during the full and half-pay portions — basic salary is the accrual base, not the reduced cash payment
- Pumping/nursing breaks of two 30-minute periods per day apply for six months after return — paid time, not deducted from working hours
- Termination during pregnancy or maternity leave is restricted — wrongful dismissal exposure runs three months' wages plus reinstatement risk
- Sick leave overlap rules give an additional 45 days of sick leave for pregnancy-related illness on top of the 60-day maternity entitlement
Maternity leave UAE rules under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 give private-sector female employees a clear baseline. 60 calendar days of leave, 45 at full pay and 15 at half pay, irrespective of length of service. The headline is easy. The implementation is where SME employers slip: payroll posting, gratuity accrual continuation, sick-leave overlap, return-to-work nursing breaks and the documentation an MoHRE inspection or wrongful-dismissal claim will request.
This guide is for founders, HR managers and finance directors of UAE SMEs setting maternity-leave policy in 2026. What federal law actually requires, where the common errors hide, how to post the leave correctly through payroll, and what documentation to keep on file.
Start with the 60-day federal baseline
Article 30 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 sets the floor. Every private-sector female employee in the UAE, whether on a full-time, part-time, temporary or flexible-work contract, is entitled to 60 calendar days of maternity leave at delivery: 45 at full pay, 15 at half pay.
The entitlement is not service-linked, and this trips people up. An employee who joined three months ago gets the same 60 days as one with ten years behind her. The first 45 days are paid at the registered total salary (basic plus allowances per the contract); the next 15 drop to 50% of total salary.
Free-zone employers operating under their own employment regulations (DIFC, ADGM, DMCC and others) may grant more generous terms (DIFC for example offers 65 working days of full pay) but cannot drop below the federal baseline where federal law applies.
60 calendar days
Total UAE maternity leave entitlement under Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021 — 45 days at full pay, 15 days at half pay, no minimum service required
Posting the 45+15 split through payroll
The payroll error pattern is consistent across SMEs running on Excel or generic accounting software not configured for UAE labour law. The leave is processed as a single 60-day block at full pay, missing the half-pay portion entirely. The correction at year-end is awkward, and if the employee leaves within 12 months it becomes a final-settlement dispute.
Here is how a clean posting runs. Days 1 to 45 go through WPS or the zone salary-card scheme at the registered total wage, with the basic salary breakdown unchanged and gratuity accruing as normal. Days 46 to 60 drop to 50% of total salary. The salary slip has to show the half-pay basis plainly, the WPS submission still has to be on time, and the SIF file should carry the reduced amount. Throughout both windows gratuity keeps accruing on 100% of basic salary, because the half-pay period cuts the cash payment, not the contractual wage the gratuity is built on. Annual leave carries on accruing at the standard 30-day-per-year rate, prorated across the maternity period.
Document the leave start date, the supporting medical certificate, the planned return date and the actual return date in the HR file. The payroll register should show the 45+15 split clearly, with the WPS or zone submissions traceable to MoHRE confirmation files.
When the 60 days isn’t the whole entitlement
Article 30(4) of the Employment Law extends maternity protection beyond the 60-day baseline in three specific situations:
- Premature birth, miscarriage after six months, stillbirth — the full 60-day maternity entitlement still applies. The leave is paid as normal (45+15) and the gratuity accrual continues.
- Pregnancy-related sick leave — up to 45 additional days of sick leave, unpaid but with continued employment and gratuity accrual. The 45 days can be taken consecutively or in blocks within the 12 months following the original maternity leave.
- Newborn illness — additional unpaid leave of up to 30 days where the newborn requires extended hospitalisation, supported by a medical certificate.
These extensions sit on top of the 60-day baseline. SME HR policies frequently miss them — the employee learns about the entitlement from a friend, the request is refused informally, and a wrongful-treatment claim becomes a settlement negotiation.
Two 30-minute nursing breaks, paid
Article 30(7) entitles the returning employee to two 30-minute nursing breaks per working day for six months after returning to work. The breaks are paid time and cannot be deducted from working hours or merged into the standard lunch break.
For SMEs there are two things to get right. Put the breaks on the employee’s timesheet, usually one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and let her take them flexibly within working hours as operations allow. Then write the entitlement into the return-to-work letter so both sides have it in black and white. That single line heads off the “did you give them their breaks?” argument in any future dispute.
The cost to the employer is minimal: one hour of paid time a day for six months. The cost of getting it wrong is a wrongful-treatment claim where all the evidence sits on the employee’s side. Not a trade worth making.
Why you can’t terminate during pregnancy or leave
Article 30(8) prohibits termination during pregnancy, during maternity leave or for reasons connected to the pregnancy. The protection extends to a reasonable post-return period (typically interpreted as 12 months from the return-to-work date in tribunal practice).
An employer who terminates in violation of Article 30(8) is exposed on several fronts at once. There is wrongful-dismissal compensation of up to three months’ wages under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, reinstatement if the dismissed employee asks for it and the tribunal agrees, MoHRE penalties for the breach itself, and the reputational hit on top, since cases brought against pregnant employees tend to attract attention in the UAE labour market.
The narrow exception is termination for cause unrelated to the pregnancy — proven gross misconduct under Article 44. The evidential burden sits with the employer and tribunals scrutinise the timing carefully. “She was poor performance” delivered three weeks after the maternity-leave notification rarely survives scrutiny.
The cost of writing an MoHRE-aligned maternity-leave policy is zero. The cost of failing to write one — a wrongful-dismissal claim, an MoHRE inspection finding, a settlement payment — is six figures. There is no reason to defer the policy work.
When MoHRE knocks, what they’ll ask for
A standard MoHRE inspection touching maternity leave requests a specific set of documents. Have them ready before the inspector calls.
- Maternity-leave application signed by the employee with the planned start date.
- Supporting medical certificate from a DHA or DoH licensed practitioner confirming the expected delivery date.
- Payroll register showing 45 days full pay and 15 days half pay clearly broken out, with WPS or zone-scheme submission confirmations.
- Gratuity accrual schedule for the period showing continued accrual on basic salary.
- Annual-leave accrual continuation for the same period.
- Return-to-work letter confirming the return date and nursing-break entitlement.
- Nursing-break schedule for the six months post-return showing the breaks were granted and not deducted from pay.
A clean outsourced payroll produces this pack in 30 minutes. An Excel-run payroll typically takes a week to reconstruct and frequently exposes gaps.
How it interacts with annual and sick leave
Three rules head off the usual SME mistakes. Annual leave keeps accruing right through maternity leave at the standard 30-day-per-year rate, prorated for the period, and the employee can’t be made to burn annual leave during the maternity window. Sick leave for pregnancy-related illness sits on top of the 60-day entitlement, up to 45 days, unpaid, with employment continuing. Public holidays that fall inside the maternity window don’t push the leave out, since the 60 days run as calendar days regardless.
If the employment ends within 12 months of the return-to-work date, the accrued annual leave is encashable in the final settlement at basic salary. The gratuity is calculated on the standard 21/30-day formula including the full period of service (the maternity leave does not reduce the service period).
DIFC, ADGM and the free-zone variations
Free-zone employers operating under their own employment regulations frequently provide more generous terms than the federal baseline.
- DIFC Employment Law DIFC Law No. 4 of 2021 — 65 working days of fully paid maternity leave with additional sick leave provisions.
- ADGM Employment Regulations 2024 — 65 calendar days at full pay plus additional unpaid leave entitlements.
- DMCC, JAFZA and other free zones — typically follow federal law as the baseline with employer-discretion enhancement available.
If you operate across zones (a DIFC-licensed parent with a mainland operating company, for example), apply the most generous entitlement consistently to avoid creating internal inequality. The cost difference is small; the HR-relations payback is significant.
How Velmont Crest helps
Velmont Crest’s UAE accounting specialists provide outsourced payroll processing for UAE SMEs including correct maternity-leave handling under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021. The standard engagement covers monthly payroll processing, WPS or zone-specific submission, gratuity and leave-accrual tracking including maternity continuation, payslip generation, return-to-work documentation and the supporting payroll-register evidence MoHRE inspectors and auditors expect.
We coordinate with the client’s PRO for visa-related work and with the client’s HR adviser on policy drafting where requested. We publish transparent pricing and offer a free discovery call.
We are not a MoHRE-licensed PRO or visa-services agency. We are not a Federal Tax Authority registered tax agent. Our scope is payroll processing, bookkeeping and the supporting documentation.
If you’re updating your HR handbook this quarter
Maternity leave in the UAE is a clear-cut entitlement: 60 calendar days, 45 full pay plus 15 half pay, no service requirement, gratuity continuation, sick-leave overlap, nursing-break protection. The complexity for SME employers is implementation, not interpretation.
Three actions clean up most exposure:
- Update the HR handbook to reflect Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 — the post-February 2022 entitlement, not the pre-2022 framework.
- Configure payroll to split the 45+15 days correctly, continue gratuity accrual on basic salary, and document the leave in the payroll register.
- Document the return-to-work process including the six-month nursing-break entitlement so the entitlement is delivered and recorded.
For deeper coverage of the wider payroll framework, see our payroll outsourcing UAE buyer guide, our annual leave accrual UAE guide, our MoHRE payroll compliance checklist and our domestic worker payroll UAE guide.
Disclaimer: Velmont Crest is a DED-licensed accounting and advisory firm. We provide outsourced payroll processing, WPS submission support, leave-accrual tracking and maternity-leave payroll handling for UAE businesses. We are not a Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE)-licensed PRO or visa-services agency, and we are not a Federal Tax Authority registered tax agent. Fees, regulatory requirements, MoHRE inspection scope and maternity-leave rules change — verify the current position with the relevant authority and take advice from a licensed professional for matters specific to your circumstances.
References
Frequently asked questions
- How many days of maternity leave does UAE labour law give?
- 60 calendar days — 45 at full pay, 15 at half pay. That's the figure set by Article 30 of [Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021](https://uaelegislation.gov.ae/en/legislations) for every private-sector female employee, and it applies no matter how long she's been with the company. A free-zone employer running its own zone regulations can match this or go more generous (several do), but it can't drop below the federal floor where federal law applies.
- When does maternity leave start in the UAE?
- It can begin up to 30 days before the expected delivery date, and it has to start no later than the birth itself. The employee gives written notice backed by a medical certificate from a [DHA](https://www.dha.gov.ae/) or [DoH](https://doh.gov.ae/) licensed practitioner. From there the 60-day clock runs continuously — 45 days full pay, then 15 at half pay. You can't split the leave into separate blocks under federal law. Extensions for a sick child or pregnancy-related illness are a different matter, and those are allowed.
- Does maternity leave count toward gratuity in the UAE?
- Yes, the whole 60 days. Under [Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021](https://uaelegislation.gov.ae/en/legislations), gratuity accrues on basic salary for every period the employee is on the books, and maternity leave is no exception. Watch the accrual base: it's the registered basic salary, not the smaller cash amount she receives during the half-pay weeks. The mistake we keep running into is payroll switching accrual off for that 15-day window, which understates the year-end provision and shows up as an audit adjustment months later.
- Can a Sharjah or Dubai employer terminate a pregnant employee?
- No. Article 30(8) of [Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021](https://uaelegislation.gov.ae/en/legislations) blocks dismissal during pregnancy, during maternity leave, and for any reason tied to the pregnancy. Do it anyway and you're looking at compensation of up to three months' wages, possible reinstatement, MoHRE penalties and a reputational hit. There's one narrow way out — dismissal for cause that has nothing to do with the pregnancy, proven gross misconduct under Article 44. But the burden of proof is yours, and tribunals read the timing closely.
- What about premature birth or pregnancy-related sick leave?
- Premature birth, miscarriage after six months, or stillbirth — the full maternity entitlement still applies, paid the same way. And if the mother or the newborn has a pregnancy-related illness that needs more time off, Article 30(4) adds up to 45 days of sick leave. That extra block is unpaid, but employment and gratuity accrual both continue through it, and it sits on top of the 60 days rather than eating into them.
- Are nursing breaks paid in the UAE?
- Yes, and that catches a lot of employers out. Article 30(7) of [Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021](https://uaelegislation.gov.ae/en/legislations) gives the returning employee two 30-minute nursing breaks a day for the first six months back. They're paid time — you can't dock them from working hours or fold them into the lunch break. Plenty of SMEs run this on a handshake. Better to write the entitlement into the HR policy, put the breaks on the timesheet, and confirm it in the return-to-work letter.
- What documentation does an MoHRE inspection request on maternity leave?
- An inspector touching maternity leave will ask for the signed application, the medical certificate from a licensed UAE practitioner, the payroll register showing the 45-and-15 split, the gratuity accrual schedule for that period, the return-to-work confirmation, and the nursing-break schedule for the six months after. A clean payroll system spits all of that out in half an hour. An Excel-run one usually means a week of reconstruction — and that's the week you find the gaps.
- How does maternity leave interact with annual leave in the UAE?
- They run separately. Annual leave keeps accruing during maternity leave at the usual rate of 30 calendar days a year, prorated for service. You can't force her to burn annual leave during the maternity window, and you can't offset one against the other. When she's back, the accrued days are hers to use. And if employment ends within 12 months of return, that balance is encashable at basic salary in the final settlement.
- Can Velmont Crest help set up maternity-leave payroll posting for UAE SMEs?
- Yes. [Velmont Crest's UAE accounting specialists](/) run outsourced payroll for SMEs and handle the maternity-leave mechanics properly — the 45-day full-pay block, the 15-day half-pay block, gratuity that keeps accruing on basic salary, nursing-break documentation after return, and the payroll-register evidence MoHRE inspectors and auditors ask for. One thing to be clear on: we're not a MoHRE-licensed PRO. Our scope is payroll and the bookkeeping behind it. Anything visa-related goes through your own PRO.
- Does UAE maternity leave apply to part-time and flexible-work employees?
- Yes — the contract type doesn't matter. [Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021](https://uaelegislation.gov.ae/en/legislations) and its Cabinet decisions extend the entitlement to part-time, temporary, flexible-work and shared-job models brought in from 2022. The full 60 days apply, with pay worked out on the contracted pattern rather than full-time wages. Protection tracks the employment relationship, not whatever the contract happens to be called.
Filed under: maternity leave uae, uae labour law, mohre payroll, hr policy uae, federal decree law 33, sme employer compliance
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