Minimum Salary for Emiratis in the Private Sector 2026

Emirati employees in the UAE private sector must be paid at least AED 6,000 a month. The requirement applies to new work permits, renewals and amendments from 1 January 2026, and employers with Emiratis already on payroll had until 30 June 2026 to bring existing contracts up to the threshold.

Source: MOHRE, announced 31 December 2025 · Checked August 2026

Part of the full Emiratisation compliance guide.

The dates

What is the minimum wage for Emiratis in 2026?

AED 6,000 a month, following a Cabinet minimum wage decision, applying specifically to UAE nationals in private-sector employment.

The progression was AED 4,000, then AED 5,000, and now AED 6,000, described by MOHRE’s Undersecretary for Labour Market and Emiratisation Operations as a minimum wage strategy for Emiratis.

This is not a general UAE minimum wage. The UAE has not set a statutory minimum applying to all employees regardless of nationality, so “UAE minimum wage” in general coverage often refers to something else.

One figure, two jobs

As an employment obligation: you must pay at least AED 6,000 a month to an Emirati employee in the private sector.

As a support threshold: the Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council standardised the minimum salary for Nafis eligibility across all schemes at AED 6,000, in line with the Cabinet decision.

The consequence is sharper than it looks. Paying an Emirati employee AED 5,500 does not just breach the wage requirement. It puts them outside Nafis salary support entirely. You save AED 500 a month and cost them up to AED 6,000 a month.

What happens if you pay below it

From 1 July 2026, two things.

Emirati employees earning below AED 6,000 are excluded from Emiratisation target calculations. They stop counting toward your target.

New work permits can be suspended until salaries are brought into compliance.

The first is easy to miss because it is not charged as a penalty. A company with five Emirati employees, two below the threshold, has three from July. See how to calculate Emiratisation.

This is not the same as the skilled-role threshold

The published definition of a skilled role requires, among other things, a monthly salary of at least AED 4,000 excluding commission. That definition applies to any employee of any nationality and has not been withdrawn.

The AED 6,000 minimum applies to Emirati employees and, from 1 July 2026, determines whether they count toward your target.

Both are current. An employee on AED 4,500 in a qualifying role is still a skilled role in your denominator, but if that employee is Emirati, they no longer count toward your target. See what counts as a skilled role.

The salary band that matters

Free zones

The minimum wage decision does not bind free zone employers in the same way, but the Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council operates a gradual adjustment mechanism for private-sector employees outside MOHRE and Central Bank scope, where salary is below the approved minimum.

A free zone employer who wants their Emirati employees to access Nafis support needs to reach AED 6,000 regardless. See Emiratisation and free zones.

Basic salary or total package?

MOHRE’s announcement refers to a “minimum salary” of AED 6,000 without stating whether compliance is assessed against the basic salary component or the total contractual salary registered for employment purposes.

Notably, when the government defines a skilled worker it specifies “monthly salary excluding commission”, deliberately precise drafting. The AED 6,000 announcement carries no equivalent qualifier.

No official guidance resolving this has been identified (unconfirmed at the time of writing). Employers should keep payroll and contract records consistent and seek official clarification where salary structures include significant fixed allowances.

Read next: Nafis salary support. The amount that sits on top of the salary you pay.

Last checked August 2026 · Sources: official platforms