Every UAE employer's first question is the package, and the answer has two layers: what the Philippine side verifies and what UAE law requires. The MWO looks at the basic wage — AED 1,500 a month minimum for skilled contracts — and at the standard provisions around it; the Labour Law sets hours, overtime, leave and gratuity. This guide puts both layers in one place and shows how to structure an offer that passes verification and holds a worker.
MWO Dubai verifies skilled contracts at a minimum basic wage of AED 1,500 a month, and the DMW's standard minimum provisions for land-based contracts sit on top of the basic: free transport to and from the worksite, free food and suitable accommodation or the agreed allowance, free emergency medical and dental treatment, repatriation at the end of the contract. The UAE Labour Law adds the rest — health insurance, 30 days' annual leave, end-of-service gratuity, overtime rules, wages through the Wage Protection System. The basic is what the gratuity, overtime and leave pay are calculated on, which is why the MWO looks at it rather than at the total package.
The master employment contract filed at accreditation fixes the package per position; individual contracts are verified against it before each worker's Overseas Employment Certificate. Contracts whose basic falls below AED 1,500, or whose total only reaches it through allowances, are returned. Where your UAE pay structure uses a lower basic with housing and transport allowances, the offer for Filipino workers is restructured so that the basic itself meets the line — the allowances can stay on top.
Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021 governs the employment: a standard MoHRE contract in Arabic and English with the worker's language, eight hours a day and forty-eight a week, overtime at 25 % over the basic hourly rate and 50 % between 10 pm and 4 am, thirty days' paid annual leave after a year, end-of-service gratuity of 21 days' basic pay per year of service for the first five years and 30 days thereafter, wages through the Wage Protection System, health insurance and the unemployment-insurance scheme, and the midday outdoor-work break from 15 June to 15 September. The MWO package and the MoHRE contract must say the same thing; discrepancies between the two are the commonest cause of delay at verification.
We model the package with you before the job order so that verification, MoHRE registration and the candidate's expectations line up.
Gratuity, leave pay and overtime are calculated on the basic, so a higher basic raises those lines proportionally; housing and transport in kind do not. Most UAE employers of Filipino staff settle on a basic somewhat above the MWO line with accommodation and transport provided, which passes verification, keeps the gratuity base predictable and is competitive in the Filipino community — where pay packages are compared openly.
On the UAE side, your company is the sponsor: a signed job offer, MoHRE work-permit approval (or the free-zone equivalent), an entry permit valid sixty days, then medical, Emirates ID biometrics, contract registration and the residence visa — typically two to four weeks once documents are complete. Roles are classified by MoHRE skill level; levels 1–2 require an attested degree, levels 3–4 a diploma. Our UAE company, licensed for HR consultancy in Dubai, advises on classification, attestation and Emiratisation standing and coordinates the sequence with your PRO — it does not place or supply workers, and the employment relationship is yours.
Recruitment in the Philippines runs through our own DMW-licensed agency, Prime Search Manpower Agency Inc. in Makati (licence DMW-027-LB-11182024). Your company is accredited as a principal at the Migrant Workers Office in Dubai or Abu Dhabi — recruitment agreement, job order, master employment contract, undertaking, contingency plan and trade licence — and the verified file is registered with the Department of Migrant Workers. Every selected worker leaves Manila with a verified contract, medical clearance, pre-departure orientation and an Overseas Employment Certificate.
Everything here is subject to applicable UAE MoHRE or free-zone, licensing, attestation and visa requirements.
The basic. The MWO verifies skilled contracts at a minimum basic wage of AED 1,500 a month; accommodation, transport, food and the other provisions come on top.
Not for a new hire through a job order. Contracts whose total only reaches the line through allowances are returned; the basic itself must meet it.
MWO Abu Dhabi verifies contracts for Abu Dhabi and Al Ain under its own checklist; the DMW standard provisions are the same. We confirm the current requirement for your emirate before the job order.
The DMW standard provision is free food and suitable accommodation or the agreed monetary equivalent; a stated food allowance is accepted when it is a realistic figure.
The employer or its representative, per contract, at the MWO cashier, per the fee schedule on MWO Dubai's contract-verification page; fee rules change faster than the documentary requirements, so we confirm the current amount before each batch. Recruitment follows the employer-pays principle; no candidate pays for a place on a shortlist.
General information for employers, not legal or migration advice. Rules change; we re-verify before each hire.