Paternity Leave in UAE: What Fathers Actually Get in 2024

If you're about to become a father while working in the UAE, you're probably wondering how much time off you actually get, who pays for it, and whether the rules in your free zone match what's in the federal law. Short answer: yes, paternity leave in UAE exists. Longer answer: there are caveats, and most HR departments still get this wrong.

Quick answer

Paternity leave in UAE is five working days of fully paid leave, available to private-sector fathers under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 (the UAE Labour Law). You can take the leave any time within six months of the child's birth, and it can be taken in one stretch or split across multiple days. The employer pays. The right applies regardless of nationality, contract type, or whether you're full-time or part-time. DIFC and ADGM follow similar but separately drafted rules. Government employees follow their own HR regulations.

The federal rule — five days, full pay, six-month window

The legal basis is Article 30(1) of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, which came into force on 2 February 2022. Before that law, private-sector fathers had no statutory paternity leave at all — the UAE was one of the first GCC countries to grant it when the original 2020 amendment introduced "parental leave" as a five-day entitlement for both parents.[1]

Here's what the law actually says, stripped of legalese:

You get five working days of paid leave.
You can use them continuously or intermittently within six months from the date of the child's birth.
It's fully paid by the employer — no deduction from annual leave, no waiting period, no minimum service.
It applies to both parents, which means a mother can stack these five days on top of her 60-day maternity entitlement, and a father takes them as paternity leave.

No probation carve-out. Honestly, this is one of the cleaner provisions in the labour law — there's not much room for HR to argue.

Watch out: Some employers still call this "parental leave" and try to limit it to one parent per household. That's not what Article 30 says. Each working parent has an independent five-day entitlement. If your HR is telling you otherwise, push back in writing.

Who qualifies — and the small print HR forgets

Coverage is wider than most people think. The five days apply to:

UAE nationals and expats equally
Full-time, part-time, temporary, and flexible workers (Article 7 of the Labour Law recognises all these models)
Workers still in their six-month probation period
Fathers of children born abroad, provided you're employed in the UAE mainland private sector

The leave attaches to the birth of the child, not to marriage status or whether the mother also works in the UAE. So if your wife gave birth in Manila and you're working in Dubai Marina, you still get the five days. Bring the birth certificate (attested if foreign) when you submit the request.

What's not covered by the federal five-day rule: government employees (federal and local), military, and police. Those categories run on their own HR regulations, which in several emirates are actually more generous — Dubai Government employees, for example, get three days under Executive Council Resolution No. 13 of 2022 governing government HR, with some entities granting more by internal policy.[2]

DIFC and ADGM — similar idea, different drafting

If you work in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) or Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the federal Labour Law doesn't apply to you directly. Both financial free zones have their own employment laws.

DIFC grants five working days of paternity leave under Article 36 of DIFC Employment Law No. 2 of 2019 (as amended by DIFC Law No. 4 of 2020). It must be taken within two months of birth — that window is tighter than the federal six months, so plan accordingly. The employee needs at least 12 months of continuous service to qualify for the full paid entitlement.[3]

ADGM offers five working days as well, under Section 36 of the ADGM Employment Regulations 2019 (amended in 2024). The qualifying conditions and notice requirements are broadly aligned with DIFC's.[4]

Free zones outside DIFC/ADGM — JAFZA, DMCC, DAFZA, Dubai South, Sharjah free zones, RAKEZ, and the rest — follow the federal Labour Law. So it's the standard five days within six months.

How to actually take the leave — the practical bit

In my experience, the friction isn't legal; it's administrative. Here's what works:

Notify your employer in writing as soon as you reasonably can. The law doesn't set a minimum notice period for paternity leave (unlike, say, annual leave), but giving notice protects you in any dispute.
Submit the birth certificate within a reasonable time after the birth. For UAE-born children, the hospital issues a birth notification, and the full certificate comes from the relevant Health Authority (DHA in Dubai, DoH in Abu Dhabi) usually within 15 days.
Specify how you want to split the days if you're not taking them in one block. Three days at birth, two days when the mother returns to work, is a common pattern.
Get the approval in writing — email is fine. WhatsApp approvals are not worth the screenshot.

If the employer refuses or deducts the days from annual leave, you can file a complaint with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE, the federal labour regulator) through the MOHRE app or by calling 600 590 000. MOHRE complaints are free and typically get a first response within a few working days.

Costs: None. Paternity leave is fully employer-paid. There's no government fee to claim it, and no insurance involvement. If your employer tells you to use annual leave instead, that's a Labour Law violation under Article 60 (penalties for breach of employee entitlements).

Where UAE paternity leave stands compared to the region

Five days isn't generous by European standards — Spain gives 16 weeks, Sweden offers 90 days reserved specifically for fathers — but in the GCC, the UAE is actually leading. Saudi Arabia gives three days. Qatar has no statutory paternity leave at all in the private sector. Oman introduced seven days in 2023, edging slightly ahead.

Several large UAE employers go beyond the statutory minimum as a retention tool. I've seen banks, consulting firms, and tech companies in DIFC offering two to four weeks of fully paid paternity leave as part of family-friendly policy packages. If you're negotiating an offer letter, this is genuinely negotiable — much more so than base salary.

Worth asking. Most candidates never do.

What's next — and what to watch

There's been periodic talk in the Federal National Council about extending paternity leave to two weeks, particularly after the 2022 reforms made the UAE's parental leave framework a benchmark in the region. Nothing has been gazetted as of late 2024, but if you're planning a family in 2025-2026, keep an eye on MOHRE announcements.

For now, plan around five working days. Take them within the six-month window. Get everything in writing. And if HR pushes back, the law is squarely on your side.

For broader context on time-off entitlements, see our guide to employment leave entitlements and the UAE Labour Law overview.

Citations:

[1] Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations, Article 30(1). Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, https://www.mohre.gov.ae

[2] Executive Council Resolution No. 13 of 2022 concerning the Human Resources Management Regulation of the Government of Dubai.

[3] DIFC Employment Law No. 2 of 2019, Article 36 (Paternity Leave), as amended. DIFC Legal Database, https://www.difc.ae/business/laws-and-regulations/

[4] ADGM Employment Regulations 2019, Section 36. ADGM Legal Framework, https://en.adgm.thomsonreuters.com

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