The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. This makes it a key place for businesses and professionals. The UAE has the second-largest economy in the Arab world, after Saudi Arabia. In 2018, its gross domestic product (GDP) was USD 414 billion, or AED 1.52 trillion.
The UAE has a great location, friendly business rules, and tax-free salaries. This attracts foreign investments and skilled workers from all over the world. Entrepreneurs worldwide are looking to establish a presence in the UAE to tap into its flourishing market.
But starting a company in the United Arab Emirates is not easy. An employer of record in the United Arab Emirates is the ideal remedy in this situation. Businesses can use an EOR in the UAE.
This helps them process visas, manage payroll, and hire workers legally. It also ensures they follow UAE labor laws. This blog post looks at the best employer of record in the United Arab Emirates.
What is an Employer of Record (EOR) in the UAE?
An Employer of Record (EOR) in the United Arab Emirates is a third-party service. It takes care of employment tasks like payroll, taxes, employee benefits, and following UAE labor laws. This allows companies to hire talent in the UAE without establishing a legal entity, saving time and operational costs.
Using an EOR ensures full compliance with UAE employment regulations, including visa sponsorship and Emirates requirements, while also reducing administrative burdens. Businesses benefit from faster hiring processes, lower legal risks, and greater flexibility in workforce expansion.
Benefits of using an Employer of record in UAE
An Employer of Record (EOR) simplifies hiring and workforce management. Here’s how an EOR benefits companies in the UAE:
1. Ensuring Seamless Labor Law Compliance
Navigating UAE labour laws, visa regulations, and end-of-service benefits can be challenging for foreign businesses. An EOR ensures that companies follow employment contracts and payroll rules. This helps lower the risk of legal issues and fines.
2. Cost-Effective Market Entry & Talent Acquisition
Expanding into the UAE without setting up a legal entity saves businesses significant costs on company registration, office space, and administrative overhead. An EOR provides access to top-tier talent while managing local employment complexities. Making it an ideal solution for startups and SMEs looking to scale efficiently.
3. Efficient Payroll & Tax Management
Payroll processing in the UAE must comply with the Wage Protection System (WPS) and local tax rules. An EOR ensures accurate salary payments, tax deductions, and social security contributions where applicable, preventing costly errors and delays.
4. Enhancing Employee Satisfaction & Retention
A strong employee experience is key to business success. An EOR offers competitive benefits, timely salary payments, and HR support, fostering job satisfaction and workforce stability. Clear employment terms and well-structured benefit plans contribute to a productive and motivated team.
5. Enabling Global Mobility & Visa Processing
For businesses hiring expatriates, an EOR streamlines visa sponsorship, work permit applications, and immigration compliance. This simplifies cross-border workforce mobility, ensuring smooth international operations without bureaucratic delays.
6. Scalable Workforce Management
The UAE’s dynamic market demands workforce flexibility. An EOR helps businesses adjust their teams based on project needs. This way, they avoid long-term commitments and keep a flexible workforce.
Why hire employees in the UAE?
The UAE is a global business center. It has a skilled workforce that speaks many languages. Its location is great for expanding into the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
Companies benefit from a tax-friendly environment, 100% foreign ownership in free zones, and business-friendly regulations. The UAE has great talent in finance, tech, healthcare, and logistics. It also offers strong labor protections, good salaries, and options for remote work.
An Employer of Record (EOR) makes hiring easier. It takes care of payroll, visas, contracts, and compliance. This helps businesses grow quickly without needing to set up a legal entity.
Countries in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
- Abu
- Dhabi
- Dubai
- Sharjah
- Ajman
- Umm Al-Quwain
- Fujairah
7 Best Employer of Record in the UAE
- Velocity Global – Overall best in risk management
- Deel – Best in global Human resources
- Remote – Best in staff support
- Oyster – Best in Global employment
- Remofirst – Best in seamless integration
- Multiplier – Best in supporting growth
- Rippling – Best in compliance
1. Velocity Global: Overall Best in risk management
Velocity Global EOR in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) helps your business grow. It allows compnies to hire, onboard, and manage employees without needing to set up a local office. Its comprehensive workforce solution covers global payroll, compliance, and risk mitigation, ensuring a seamless and legally compliant entry into the UAE market.
Furthermore, trusted global employment partner operating in over 185 countries .Velocity Global provides an unrivalled UAE business expansion solution for distributed teams, helping companies navigate local labour laws, manage work visas, and ensure HR and tax compliance.
Velocity Global serves companies of all sizes, from startups to Fortune 500 enterprises, offering flexible, customized EOR solutions that support remote hiring, workforce mobility, and HR compliance in the UAE.
Features of Using Velocity Global EOR
1. Compliance & Risk Management
Navigating UAE laborh laws can be complex, but Velocity Global ensures businesses stay fully compliant. From drafting sound employment contracts to managing compliance with the Wage Protection System (WPS), the company handles all regulatory requirements. This minimizes legal risks, prevents worker misclassification issues, and ensures smooth operations without compliance headaches.
2. Payroll & Tax Administration
Handling payroll in the UAE requires strict adherence to regulations. Velocity Global ensures accurate and timely salary payments, processes gratuity and social security contributions, and ensures WPS-compliant transactions.
With multi-currency payroll support, companies can pay employees seamlessly, whether they’re local hires or expatriates.
3. Work Visa & Immigration Support
Hiring foreign talent in the UAE means dealing with work visas, residence permits, and immigration rules. Velocity Global simplifies this process by sponsoring visas, managing renewals, and handling all immigration paperwork.
Businesses can focus on growth while ensuring their employees have the necessary approvals to work legally in the country.
4. Employee Benefits & HR Support
Employees expect competitive benefits, and Velocity Global makes sure businesses offer mandatory perks like health insurance, gratuity payments, and paid leave.
In addition, the company helps with customized benefits packages to attract and retain top talent. Their HR support also assists with onboarding, contract updates, and resolving employment-related issues.
5. Faster Market Entry & Business Scalability
Setting up a legal entity in the UAE takes time and money, but with Velocity Global, businesses can start hiring in days instead of months.
Whether companies need a single employee or an entire team, their flexible EOR solution makes it easy to scale operations up or down without the complexities of company registration.
6. Cloud-Based HR & Payroll Platform
Managing a workforce is easier with technology, and Velocity Global provides a cloud-based HR and payroll platform that offers real-time insights into compliance, payroll, and employee management.
The system integrates seamlessly with existing HR tools, ensuring businesses have a centralized way to track and manage their global workforce.
With Velocity Global, expanding into the UAE is simple, compliant, and hassle-free.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Advanced integration
- Global benefits
- Wide geographical reach
Cons
- Depends on third-party providers
- Limited personalization
DEEL: Best in Global Hr platform
Deel enables businesses to hire employees in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) quickly, easily, and compliantly without setting up a local entity. Their Employer of Record (EOR) solution streamlines global hiring by automating tax document collection, payroll, benefits administration, and compliance management.
In addition to hiring, Deel helps businesses handle payroll for their current staff members, taking care of all payroll-related tasks to guarantee on-time wage distribution, tax adherence, and benefits processing.
Deel handles everything in more than 150 nations. Their technologically advanced platform facilitates corporate expansion into the United Arab Emirates and beyond by offering automatic compliance tracking, real-time contract updates, and multi-currency payroll support.
Features of Deel EOR
1. Global Hiring Platform
Deel enables businesses to hire top-tier talent from over 150 countries, streamlining the process of recruiting independent freelancers or full-time employees across borders. With Deel’s platform, international hiring becomes frictionless.
The system automates every step of the process, from creating tailored contracts to managing onboarding, all while ensuring compliance with diverse legal and tax regulations. Companies can expand their workforce globally with confidence, unlocking access to a wide pool of skilled professionals without being bogged down by complex legalities.
2. Effortless Payroll Automation
Deel’s advanced payroll solution ensures businesses can pay employees on time and accurately in multiple currencies, regardless of where they are based. The platform is designed to handle complex payroll calculations, including tax contributions, deductions, and benefits, in compliance with local laws.
By automating payroll tasks, Deel removes administrative burdens and the risk of errors, making sure employees are paid according to their contracts, with taxes and deductions fully managed in alignment with international standards.
3. Seamless Compliance Management
Navigating the intricacies of international labour laws can be daunting. Deel simplifies compliance by providing businesses with real-time tools to stay on top of country-specific regulations, including tax filings, social security contributions, and contractual obligations. The platform offers customizable templates for legal documents, helping businesses ensure they meet local requirements in each market. Deel’s compliance management system minimizes the risks associated with non-compliance, protecting companies from legal pitfalls and penalties.
4. Comprehensive Benefits Administration
Offering competitive benefits is key to attracting and retaining top talent. Deel allows businesses to easily manage and deliver employee benefits packages, including health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, and more.
This flexibility ensures that companies can offer attractive, compliant benefits in every market where they operate, helping them stand out as employers of choice.
Deel’s platform also integrates benefits management with payroll systems, streamlining the entire process and ensuring that all deductions and contributions are handled accurately and in line with local regulations.
5. User-Friendly Technology Platform
Deel’s intuitive, easy-to-navigate platform provides businesses with real-time insights into their international workforce. Whether it’s tracking payroll, managing compliance, or overseeing employee benefits, Deel integrates seamlessly with existing accounting and HR software to optimize workflows.
The platform’s user-friendly design empowers HR teams and managers to focus on growing their business rather than getting bogged down by administrative tasks. Deel ensures that both employers and employees have an intuitive experience, providing all the necessary tools to maintain efficient and effective operations at scale.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Extensive global coverage
- Flexible payment option
- User-friendly interface
- Constant support
- Fast onboarding
Cons
- Learning curve
- No native payroll
- Limited document localization
- Third-party services
3. Remote EOR- Best in staff support
Remote is a leading global HR platform designed to help companies expand their workforce worldwide, including in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). With its advanced Employer of Record (EOR) services, Remote empowers businesses to hire talent across borders without setting up a local entity.
In the UAE, Remote EOR is particularly valuable for international companies looking to hire remote employees in a compliant, streamlined way. From managing payroll and taxes to offering localized benefits and adhering to complex regional laws, Remote handles it all.
Features of Remote EOR
- Full Legal Compliance and HR Support
Remote ensures businesses stay aligned with UAE labor regulations. It goes beyond just payroll. It covers employment contracts, benefits, and labor law adherence.
- Strong Data & IP Protection
Remote EOR offers secure handling of intellectual property and sensitive employee data across borders or in industries with strict compliance requirements.
- Localized Employee Benefits
Remote customizes benefits packages to meet local expectations. In the UAE, this can include health insurance, annual leave, and end-of-service gratuity, ensuring satisfaction and retention of remote staff.
- Effortless Remote Onboarding
From compliant contracts to orientation and documentation, Remote EOR simplifies every stage of the onboarding process, saving time and ensuring legal consistency.
Pros and Cons
Pro
- Intuitive, user-friendly interface
- Strong global and UAE market coverage
- Reliable compliance and risk management
Cons
- Customization options may be limited
- No live training sessions are available
4. RemoFirst EOR- Best in seamless Integration
Remofirst is a worldwide Employer of Record (EOR) platform that handles companies’ end-to-end employment needs across borders. It allows businesses to expand internationally, access a broader talent pool, and optimize global operations.
However, by taking on the role of the legal employer on behalf of your company, Remofirst manages all aspects of employment from onboarding and payroll to benefits administration, tax compliance, and local employment regulations. This allows businesses to hire full-time employees globally without the need to set up a local legal entity.
Features of RemoFirst EOR
Dedicated Account Manager
Unlike many standard payroll or EOR providers, Remofirst assigns a dedicated account manager to each client. This ensures that every company provides personalized support and resolves payroll or HR concerns quickly and effectively.
This human-centred approach enhances the overall client experience and strengthens long-term partnerships.
International Hiring Capabilities
RemoFirst is built for global talent acquisition. Its platform helps manage the challenges of hiring in different countries, including the UAE.
It adapts to various tax rules, employment laws, and benefits standards. RemoFirst ensures every hire is fully compliant and seamlessly integrated into your team.
Real-Time Compliance Updates
With ever-changing labor laws across different jurisdictions, staying compliant is critical. Remofirst offers real-time compliance updates, automatically adjusting payroll and HR processes based on the latest legal changes.
This is crucial in places like the UAE. There, people strictly follow rules about visas, benefits, and end-of-service payments.
End-to-End Onboarding and Offboarding
RemoFirst manages the entire employee lifecycle, from onboarding to offboarding. This includes contract generation, documentation collection, payroll setup, and final settlements.
By streamlining these processes, the platform ensures professionalism, compliance, and a positive employee experience even during transitions like resignations or terminations.
Seamless Integrations
To boost efficiency, Remofirst offers a wide range of integrations with popular tools used by HR and finance teams. The platform connects effortlessly with the following:
- Accounting software (e.g., QuickBooks, Xero)
- HR systems (e.g., BambooHR, Workday)
- Time-tracking tools (e.g., Harvest, Toggl)
These integrations reduce manual data entry, minimize errors, and allow for smoother synchronization between platforms, helping businesses scale global operations without administrative overload.
Pros and Cons
- Customer support that responds
- Reporting in real-time
- The global reach
- Integration inside the system
Cons
- Limited customization in workflows or platform settings
5. Oyster - Best in Global Employment
Oyster is your trusted partner for all global talent needs as an Employer of Record (EOR). It provides full national coverage in the UAE, localized compliance expertise, and delivers exceptional employee experiences through a single, easy-to-use platform. Plus, there are no hidden fees.
Whether you’re hiring in the United Arab Emirates or beyond, Oyster EOR enables you to recruit from anywhere in the world with compliant payroll, generous local benefits, and performance-based bonuses. It understands that global employment involves hiring and paying.
It’s about creating a smooth and legally compliant journey for both companies and employees. By simplifying HR processes, Oyster ensures you deliver a seamless experience from onboarding to offboarding.
Features of Oyster EOR
1. Hire Anywhere, Pay with Confidence
Oyster enables companies to hire talent across the world, including the UAE, with dependable payroll and regionally compliant employment practices. This includes managing salaries in AED (UAE Dirham), adhering to UAE-specific tax structures, and providing benefits that align with local expectations such as health insurance, annual leave, and end-of-service gratuity.
Oyster goes beyond basic hiring, it supports the entire HR journey from onboarding to benefits to payroll, creating a consistent and compliant experience.
2. Simplified Global HR Operations
Oyster helps companies streamline HR functions across borders. By centralizing global payroll, employee data, documentation, and contracts in one place, businesses can eliminate the complexity that often comes with international hiring.
Furthermore, it is helpful in regions like the UAE, where labor laws and visa processes can be intricate and time-consuming without the right tools.
3. Build a Global Workforce with One Platform
With Oyster’s simple and powerful EOR service, you don’t need to set up a legal entity in the UAE. The platform takes care of everything from generating locally compliant contracts to managing taxes and social contributions. You gain instant access to hiring opportunities in the UAE while staying fully compliant with its labour regulations.
Additionally, Oyster offers localized insights into the UAE job market, helping you stay competitive with salary benchmarks and employee expectations.
4. Compliance Management
Oyster stands out for its robust compliance management capabilities. In the UAE, labor regulations cover everything from employment contracts and working hours to gratuity payouts and residency requirements. Oyster automates and manages:
- Tax withholdings
- Social contributions
- Visa sponsorships
- End-of-service benefits
This reduces the legal risks businesses often face when hiring internationally.
5. User-Friendly Platform
The Oyster platform is built with usability in mind. Its intuitive interface makes it easy for HR teams to manage onboarding, payroll, and employee documentation across multiple countries without needing extensive training or manual processes. For UAE-based hires, this means faster onboarding and accurate local compliance from the start.
6. Global Hiring Cost Calculator
One of Oyster’s standout tools is its Global Hiring Cost Calculator. Before you commit to hiring in the UAE, this feature helps you estimate the full cost of employment. It includes:
- Salary ranges for UAE-specific roles.
- Taxes and social security obligations
- Employer contributions
This tool ensures you have a clear financial picture and can plan budgets confidently.
7. Expense and Time Tracking
Oyster supports international workforce management with built-in expense and time-tracking tools. These features are especially valuable when managing remote teams in different time zones. For the UAE, it allows:
- Seamless expense submissions compliant with local tax laws
- Efficient approval and reimbursement workflows
- Time tracking that aligns with local working hour standards.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Smooth and fast onboarding for UAE employees
- Effective local benefits and payroll management
- Transparent and intuitive platform
Cons
- Coverage may be limited in certain smaller markets
- Some functionalities may require a separate platform
6. Multiplier - Best in Supporting Growth
Multiplier is a trusted Employer of Record (EOR) platform. It helps companies expand globally without needing to set up local offices.
Multiplier is a company that operates in more than 150 countries. The top employer of record in the UAE helps businesses. They make it easy to hire and manage foreign workers. This process is quick and legal.
Additionally, the platform streamlines the onboarding process and guarantees that workers receive benefits that are geographically specific and compliant with local laws and expectations.
By providing immediate access to local HR knowledge and removing procedural hassles, Multiplier’s EOR solution expedites international hiring.
Features of Multiplier
- Payroll
Multiplier calculates gross salaries, including bonuses and overtime, applies tax withholdings, and manages both employer and employee social contributions. Multiplier accepts payments in multiple major currencies such as USD, EUR, GBP, SGD, and AUD.
It also offers contractor payments in cryptocurrency, making it flexible for digital nomads and freelancers. Multiplier sends clients one bill each pay cycle. This bill includes salary costs, taxes, and service fees. This makes things simple and clear.
- Compliance
Multiplier ensures that contracts, payroll, and working conditions comply with local laws, including overtime rules, mandatory benefits, and termination requirements.
It also performs contract classification reviews to avoid mislabeling employees as contractors, helping companies avoid legal and financial penalties. This is especially important in regulated markets like the UAE. Following employment rules is key to staying legal and protecting your business reputation.
- Seamless platform
Employers can view employee records, monitor spending, review payslips, and track time off and freelancer invoices. The EOR team must process documents like CVs and IDs.
However, the overall interface is modern and easy to use. You can access it on both desktop and mobile. Employees and contractors can also log in to submit invoices, view leave balances, and check payroll information.
Multiplier’s platform is hosted on AWS. It follows GDPR standards to ensure data privacy and global compliance.
- HR management
Multiplier supports the entire employee lifecycle from onboarding to termination, including severance processing. It also manages:
- Payroll and benefits
- Leave and expense tracking
- Freelancer invoicing
Pros and cons
Pros
- Global compliance
- User-friendly interface
- Payroll automation
Cons
- Limited customization
- Higher cost for small business
- Limited integration
7. Rippling - Best in Compliance
Rippling is a single platform for managing workers. One of the best employers of record in the UAE is your company. It covers all parts of the employee lifecycle.
The platform simplifies HR workflows, approval processes, and regulatory adherence, all while offering a user-friendly interface.
Rippling stands out because it can handle global payroll and benefits. It also manages IT tasks like device management, app access, and security compliance. You can complete all this from the same dashboard.
As a full-service HR and international payroll solution, Rippling enables faster hiring, accurate payments, and better employee management for distributed teams.
Features of Rippling
- Global Hiring and Onboarding
Rippling simplifies the process of hiring and onboarding talent around the world. It handles everything from generating compliant employment contracts to enrolling employees in benefits, assigning devices, and delivering mandatory training programs.
- Payroll Processing
The platform makes payroll processing quick and accurate. It automatically calculates wages, taxes, and deductions. It also sends payments in employees’ local currencies. It supports timely, compliant payroll delivery for globally distributed teams.
- Compliance Management
Rippling enforces compliance with local labour laws and tax regulations. – Built-in compliance features help reduce risks for your company. You also have access to local legal experts.
Benefits Administration
Rippling offers locally optimized benefits packages that align with regional standards. Payroll-synced deductions make benefits easier to manage, while tailored offerings help improve employee retention and satisfaction.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Comprehensive platform integration
- Global hiring capability
- Automated compliance
- Efficient payroll management
- Scalability
- Customizable workflows
- Integration-friendly
- Time-saving automation
- User-friendly interface
Cons:
- Pricing transparency
- Limited global reach compared to competitors
- Learning curve
- Add-on costs
- Internet dependence
- Regional support variability
Steps in hiring employees in the united arab emirates when using an employer of record
Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you identify the best EOR for your business:
Step 1: Evaluate the Core Features of Each EOR Provider
A reliable EOR should offer the fundamental HR infrastructure required to support compliant hiring in the UAE. Key features to look for include:
- Seamless payroll processing for employees and contractors
- Benefits administration tailored to local expectations
- Smooth onboarding and offboarding workflows
- In-house legal experts familiar with UAE labour laws
- Robust intellectual property and data security safeguards
Step 2: Choose a Provider with a Strong Local Presence
Some EORs rely on third-party vendors or partners to deliver services in different countries. While this can speed up market entry, it often introduces pricing fluctuations, service and added risk.
For UAE hiring, it’s best to select an EOR that owns and operates its own legal entity in the country. This provides more control, better security, consistent pricing, and direct customer support.
Take time to understand the difference between owned-entity EORs and partner-dependent providers. This will help you choose the model that fits your risk tolerance and hiring goals.
Step 3: Read Reviews and feedback
Before making a decision, explore what existing clients say about each provider. Client feedback, independent reviews, and media coverage offer valuable insight into service quality, responsiveness, and transparency.
Step 4: Prioritize Employee Experience in the UAE
Remember, your EOR acts as the legal employer of your team, it represents your brand in the eyes of your employees. A great EOR will care for your people, pay them accurately and on time, and provide clear, responsive support. This includes explaining any salary deductions, handling queries promptly, and making onboarding feel smooth and welcoming.
Step 5: Build Competitive and Compliant Compensation Packages
Your EOR should help you create fair and competitive pay packages. These should match local salary standards, the employee’s experience, and the cost of living in the UAE.
A good partner will help you create benefits packages that follow UAE rules. They will provide benefits that appeal to remote workers today. These include healthcare, paid leave, and planning for end-of-service gratuity.
Step 6: Verify Data and IP Protection Measures
Before finalizing your agreement, confirm that your EOR has rigorous data security and intellectual property protections in place. Your contract should clearly state that any work or inventions produced by employees belong to your business not the EOR.
Final Thoughts
Choosing the right Employer of Record is important when expanding into international markets. This is especially true for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is both strategic and regulated.
Several strong contenders exist on the market. Providers like Remote, Remofirst, Oyster, Multiplier, and Rippling each offer robust global HR platforms that support international hiring, payroll, benefits administration, and compliance.
However, after reviewing all the options, Velocity Global remains our top pick for the best EOR in the UAE. It combines the reliability of owning a business with strong HR support and local legal knowledge. It also offers scalable infrastructure and a good reputation for customer satisfaction.
To hire remote workers, Velocity Global can help. They can assist with managing payroll in the UAE. They also ensure you follow labor laws and offer local benefits. We provide a smooth, complete solution that companies worldwide trust.
If your company wants to grow in the UAE or expand internationally, consider using Velocity Global. They will be your EOR platform in 2025.
