UAE Sick Leave Rules 2026: 90 Days, Pay Tiers & Your Rights

UAE sick leave rules - employee resting at home with a medical certificate

You wake up with a fever, miss work, and assume the law has you covered. In the UAE it does — but only if you follow two steps most workers get wrong: tell your employer within three working days, and back it up with a medical report. Miss either one, and your employer can treat the absence as unauthorised, even if you were genuinely ill. This guide explains the UAE's sick leave rules for private-sector employees under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021: how many days you get, what you are paid, when you get nothing, and what your employer can and cannot do while you are off sick.

The headline number is simple: after probation, you are entitled to up to 90 days of sick leave per year — the first 15 days at full pay, the next 30 at half pay, and the remaining 45 unpaid. Everything else in this guide is about the conditions attached to that number.

The 90-day rule at a glance

Article 31 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 sets out the whole scheme. The 90 days can be taken as one continuous stretch or in separate spells across the year — the law says "continuous or intermittent" — and the pay tiers apply in order, first-used first-counted.

Sick leave days (per year, after probation)	Pay	Running total
Days 1–15	Full pay	15 days paid in full
Days 16–45	Half pay	45 days used, 30 at half pay
Days 46–90	Unpaid	90 days used, 45 unpaid

Three things about this table catch people out. First, the 90 days are per year of service — each year's entitlement stands alone, so unused sick days are not banked, carried over, or paid out in cash. Second, the tiers are cumulative across the year: if you take 10 days in January and 10 in March, you have used 20 days, so the March spell straddles the full-pay and half-pay tiers. Third, the entitlement only starts after your probation period ends — more on that below, because it is the single biggest source of disputes.

Step 1: tell your employer within 3 working days — with a medical report

Article 31(1) puts two duties on you, and both are mandatory. If you fall ill with something that is not a work injury, you must:

Inform your employer (or their representative, such as your line manager) within a maximum of three working days of falling ill; and
Submit a medical report on your condition, issued by a medical entity — in practice, a sick leave certificate from a licensed clinic or hospital.

Do not treat the three-day window as generous. It runs from when you fall ill, not from when you feel like dealing with paperwork, and the notification and the medical report are both required — a phone call alone does not complete the duty. In practice, many employers only ask for a certificate when an absence runs longer than three days, but the law's rule is the one that decides a dispute, so get the certificate even for a short absence. In Dubai, certificates from DHA-licensed facilities are issued through the health authority's electronic system, which is why a proper clinic visit — not a pharmacy note — is what counts.

Practical tip: notify in writing — a message or email to your manager, not just a verbal call — and keep a copy of the certificate. If a dispute ever reaches a MOHRE complaint, the paper trail is what proves you followed the procedure.

Probation: no paid sick leave — but unpaid leave is possible

This is the rule that surprises new joiners most. Article 31(2) is blunt: you are not entitled to paid sick leave during your probationary period, which can run up to six months. If you fall ill in your first months on the job, the law gives you no paid days at all.

There is one softening: the employer may grant you sick leave without pay, based on a medical report from a medical entity stating that the leave is necessary. Note the word "may": during probation, even unpaid sick leave is at the employer's discretion, not your right. Some employers go further than the law and pay sick leave from day one as a matter of company policy — if yours does, that is a contractual benefit worth keeping in writing, because it is the policy, not the law, that protects it.

If you are still in probation, read our full guide to UAE probation period rules before assuming anything about your rights — probation also changes your notice period and resignation options.

How the pay works: a worked example

"Half pay" means half of your wage for those days — the law says the following thirty days are at half pay, without splitting basic salary from allowances. Here is what the tiers look like for an employee earning AED 9,000 a month. The example assumes the standard UAE practice of dividing the monthly wage by 30 to get a daily wage (AED 300 a day); your employer's payroll may use your contract's own daily-rate definition, so treat the dirham figures as illustrative, not a payroll ruling.

Period	Days	Daily rate	Pay for the period
Full pay	15	AED 300	AED 4,500
Half pay	30	AED 150	AED 4,500
Unpaid	45	AED 0	AED 0
Total for 90 days off	90	—	AED 9,000 — one month's wage for three months off

The worked example makes the real shape of the entitlement visible: the law protects your income for the first 45 days of illness in a year (15 fully, 30 at half), then keeps your job protected — but unpaid — for a further 45 days. Budget for that cliff if you are facing a long illness: day 46 is when the pay stops, even though the leave continues.

One more pay point: sick leave pay is still wages, so it should flow through the normal payroll and WPS salary channel like any other salary. If your sick-pay days simply never appear in your pay, that is a salary issue, not a leave issue — and it is handled the same way as any unpaid wages.

When you lose paid sick leave: misconduct

Article 31(4) removes the wage for sick leave if the sickness resulted from the worker's own misconduct, and the Executive Regulations — Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022, Article 20 — spell out exactly what counts:

Alcohol or drugs: the illness results from the worker's misconduct such as the consumption of alcohol or use of drugs; and
Safety violations: the worker violated special safety instructions under enforced legislation — for example crisis and disaster instructions, road and traffic regulations, or the establishment's own safety procedures that the worker confirmed they were aware of, understood, and committed to.

Two safeguards matter here. First, the employer cannot simply assert misconduct: for the alcohol/drugs case, Article 20 requires a report from the concerned authorities proving the sickness resulted from the misconduct. Second, the bar is causation — the illness must have resulted from the misconduct, not merely coincided with it. A worker who drinks at the weekend and catches flu on Tuesday has not lost their sick pay; a worker hospitalised after driving under the influence is a different case entirely.

Separately, absence without any valid reason is not sick leave at all — it is unauthorised absence, which can lead to disciplinary action and, if it runs beyond 20 intermittent days or 7 consecutive days in a year, dismissal. The medical report is what separates the two categories, which is why the certificate matters as much as the illness itself.

Can your employer fire you while you are sick?

No — not while the sick leave lasts. Employers cannot dismiss an employee or serve a termination notice while the employee is on sick leave. That protection runs for the full 90-day entitlement period, and it is one of the strongest job protections in the UAE Labour Law.

What happens at the end of the 90 days is different. Article 31(5) allows the employer to terminate your service after the sick leave is finished if you are still unable to return to work — but only with all your financial entitlements paid in full under the Decree-Law and its Regulations. In practice that means your end-of-service gratuity, any unpaid wages, and payment for unused annual leave must all be settled — see our guide to gratuity rules for how the final settlement is calculated.

There is a related timing rule worth knowing. Under Article 35, if either side wants to terminate the contract while the worker is on leave, the notice period does not start ticking during the leave — its validity begins only from the day after the scheduled return from leave, unless both parties agree otherwise. So even a lawful termination decision cannot eat into your sick leave by starting the notice clock early.

Sick leave during your notice period

Sick leave and notice periods interact in a way that trips up both sides:

Taking sick leave during notice does not extend the notice period. The notice clock keeps running; you do not owe extra days because you were ill.
If you still have sick leave balance, use it. Accrued sick leave (up to the 90 days for the year) can be taken during notice without affecting the notice period.
If your sick leave is exhausted, further absence counts as unserved notice. Under Article 43(3), the employee must then compensate the employer with salary equivalent to the notice days not actually served — for example, one extra day off beyond the sick entitlement during notice means one day's salary owed back.

If you are planning a resignation, read our guide to UAE notice period rules first — the 30-to-90-day notice window and payment-in-lieu options decide how all of this plays out in practice.

Sick leave vs work injury: two different regimes

Everything above covers ordinary illness — flu, surgery, a bad back. Work-related injuries and occupational diseases are a separate regime entirely, and a much more generous one. If you are hurt because of your work, the absence does not consume your 90-day sick leave balance at all: injured workers receive up to six months at full pay, followed by up to six months at half pay if treatment continues, plus employer-paid medical treatment.

The distinction matters because the paperwork is different too. A work injury must be reported to the employer and documented as work-related from the start — if your injury is recorded as ordinary sick leave, you lose the better regime. If you were injured at work, say so explicitly, get it in writing, and do not let it be filed as a routine sick note.

Long illness: combining sick leave, annual leave and unpaid leave

Ninety days is the legal ceiling for sick leave, but a serious illness does not respect ceilings. Extended sick leave beyond 90 days is not automatic — it depends on your employer's discretion and compassionate grounds. What you can do is ask, in writing, to stack your leave types:

Use the 90 days of sick leave first (15 full pay, 30 half pay, 45 unpaid).
Ask to follow it with annual leave — your accrued annual leave is paid, and combining it with sick leave is a recognised request, though the employer must agree.
Ask for further unpaid leave if you still need time. Again, this is a request, not an entitlement — but a documented request with updated medical reports puts you in a far stronger position than simply staying away.

Keep every medical report current throughout a long absence. Gaps in documentation are the most common reason a long illness turns into an unauthorised-absence dispute.

7 costly mistakes workers make with sick leave

Not notifying within 3 working days. Late notification alone can void the protection — notify in writing on day one, even before you have the certificate.
Skipping the medical report. Without a certificate from a recognised medical entity, there is no legal entitlement to paid sick leave, however ill you were.
Assuming probation has paid sick leave. It does not. During probation, even unpaid sick leave is discretionary.
Treating the 90 days as 90 paid days. Only the first 45 days carry pay (15 full, 30 half). Day 46 onward is unpaid.
Assuming sick leave extends your notice period. It does not — but absence beyond your sick balance during notice becomes unserved notice you pay for.
Filing a work injury as ordinary sick leave. You lose the six-months-full-pay work-injury regime if the injury is not documented as work-related.
Working for another employer while on sick leave. Working elsewhere during sick (or annual) leave is one of the listed grounds for dismissal without notice — never do it.

What to do if your employer gets it wrong

If your employer deducts pay for certified sick leave inside the 15/30-day tiers, refuses to recognise a valid medical certificate, or terminates you during sick leave, you have a clear path:

Put it in writing first. A short written message citing Article 31 and attaching the medical certificate resolves many disputes — some payroll errors genuinely are errors.
File a MOHRE complaint if the written approach fails. Our step-by-step guide to filing a MOHRE labour complaint covers the channels, documents and timelines; you can then track your MOHRE complaint status online.
Keep every document. Certificates, messages, payslips and the contract are the evidence — MOHRE mediation starts from the paperwork, not from recollection.

Before filing anything, verify the basics: check that your labour contract on file with MOHRE matches what you signed, and confirm your overtime and pay calculations so the dispute is about the right figures.

Who these rules do not cover

This guide covers private-sector employees under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 — mainland and most free zones. Two groups sit outside it: domestic workers, who are covered by a separate law (Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022) with its own leave framework, and employees in the DIFC and ADGM financial free zones, which operate under their own employment laws. If you are in either group, confirm your entitlements under your own regime rather than this guide. Government-sector employees are likewise covered by separate legislation.

Frequently asked questions

How many sick leave days do I get per year in the UAE?

After completing probation, up to 90 days per year of service — 15 days at full pay, the next 30 at half pay, and the remaining 45 unpaid. The days can be continuous or intermittent.

Do I get paid sick leave during probation?

No. The law gives no paid sick leave during probation (up to 6 months). Your employer may grant unpaid sick leave if a medical report states it is necessary, and some employers offer paid sick leave from day one as company policy — but that is policy, not law.

How quickly must I inform my employer when I fall ill?

Within a maximum of three working days, and you must submit a medical report from a medical entity. Notify in writing and keep a copy of the certificate.

What happens if I don't provide a medical certificate?

Without a valid certificate you have no legal entitlement to paid sick leave. The employer may treat the absence as unauthorised, deduct it from annual leave, or mark it unpaid. Persistent unauthorised absence can lead to disciplinary action.

Can my employer fire me while I'm on sick leave?

No. Dismissal or termination notice during sick leave is not permitted. Only after the full 90 days are exhausted, if you still cannot return to work, may the employer terminate — with all your financial entitlements paid in full.

Does sick leave extend my notice period?

No. Sick leave taken during notice does not extend the notice period. But if your sick leave balance is exhausted, further absence during notice counts as unserved notice, and you must compensate the employer the salary for those days.

Can I combine sick leave with annual leave for a long illness?

You can ask to — sick leave first, then annual leave, then unpaid leave — with updated medical reports. It is a request the employer must agree to, not an automatic entitlement, and leave beyond 90 days depends on employer discretion.

Is a work injury counted against my 90 sick days?

No. Work injuries and occupational diseases are a separate regime: up to six months at full pay, then up to six months at half pay, plus employer-paid treatment — and the absence does not consume your sick leave balance. Make sure the injury is documented as work-related from the start.

Do unused sick days carry over to next year?

No. The 90 days are per year of service; unused days are not banked, carried over, or paid out.

What if my employer wrongly deducts my sick pay?

Raise it in writing with your medical certificate attached, then file a MOHRE complaint if it is not fixed. Keep all certificates, messages and payslips — they are the evidence MOHRE mediation works from.

The bottom line

UAE sick leave law is generous on paper — 90 days a year, with dismissal protection throughout — but it is a conditional generosity. The certificate, the three-day notification, and the probation boundary are the conditions, and they are the parts workers most often miss. Get those three right, know that pay stops at day 46, and keep every document, and the law does the rest.

Sources: Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, Article 31 (sick leave) and Article 35 (notice during leave); Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022, Article 20 (no paid sick leave from misconduct); MOHRE official text of the Decree-Law; Khaleej Times and Emirates247 legal Q&A on sick leave, notice periods and long illness; Mondaq UAE leave guide.