What the rules require in 2026
The UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) requires private-sector companies with 50 or more employees to increase the share of UAE nationals in skilled roles by 2% every year. 2026 is the year that path reaches 10%.
The yearly 2% is split into two 1% steps, so the deadlines that matter are 30 June and 31 December. Missing a step triggers an annual financial contribution for each unfilled position — a figure MOHRE has raised every year, so always confirm the current rate.
Smaller companies are in scope too
Companies with 20–49 employees operating in specified sectors — including IT, finance, real estate, education, healthcare, and construction — must hire at least one Emirati per year under the expanded rules.
Many of these businesses run HR on spreadsheets, so they find out they are non-compliant only when MOHRE does.
Check whether your activity code is on MOHRE’s list of in-scope sectors before assuming the 50-employee rule is the only one that applies.
Why "skilled roles" is where tracking breaks
Quotas are measured against skilled jobs, which MOHRE ties to skill levels in the work permit — not to job titles in your org chart. A promotion, a permit renewal, or a re-graded role can move the denominator without anyone in HR noticing.
That is why a headcount number is not enough. You need every role classified by MOHRE skill level and every change logged with a date.
What compliant tracking software needs
The goal is a live number you trust before the deadline, not after it.
Avoiding fake Emiratisation
MOHRE penalises fictitious hiring — registering Emiratis who do not actually work, or moving them on paper to hit a number. Penalties are per case and can escalate, and the company can be downgraded in MOHRE’s classification.
Good software protects you here too: attendance, payroll, and role history in one place make it easy to prove a hire is real.
Where to start
Start with a one-off audit: map every employee to a skill level, calculate your share today, and project it to 31 December 2026. Most companies we speak to find their real share is lower than the figure HR reports, because of role re-grades nobody tracked.
From there, either extend your HRMS or add a dedicated compliance layer that reads from it.