What Nafis does for employers
Nafis is the federal programme that makes private-sector employment financially attractive for UAE Nationals. MoHRE targets create the obligation to hire Emiratis; Nafis reduces what that costs you and increases what the employee takes home.
The support is real but it is not automatic. It requires the establishment to be registered, each Emirati contract to be submitted, and the record to be maintained. In our experience most companies hiring their first UAE National do none of this — which is why the incentives section of a workforce audit usually finds money on the table.
The incentives
Paid to the employeeSalary support
A monthly top-up from Nafis on top of the salary you pay, by qualification and salary band, typically for up to five years. It lets you offer a competitive total package without moving your base bands.
Direct employer savingPension contribution support
The government covers the employer’s share of pension contributions for eligible Emirati employees for a set period. This reduces your cost of employment directly.
SubsidisedTraining & apprenticeships
Approved training, on-the-job apprenticeships and certification programmes for Emirati employees, with costs partly or fully covered.
Lower feesTier 1 classification
Exceeding your Emiratisation target and training Emiratis are routes into MoHRE’s Tier 1, where work-permit and transaction fees across your whole workforce fall.
Paid to the employeeChild allowance
A monthly allowance per child for working Emirati parents in the private sector — part of what makes your role competitive against government employment.
Free accessTalent pipeline
Search registered UAE Nationals and post Emirati-only vacancies on the national platform. Useful alongside, not instead of, a pre-screened shortlist.
Salary support and child allowance are paid by Nafis to the employee. Pension support and training subsidies reduce your costs directly. Tier 1 classification lowers fees across the whole establishment. All of them depend on the same registration steps below.
Registering your establishment
- 1Log in with UAE Pass
The authorised signatory or HR representative registers the establishment on nafis.gov.ae using the company’s MoHRE details.
- 2Link the establishment card
Confirm the trade licence, MoHRE establishment number and the Emirati employees already on payroll.
- 3Register each Emirati employee
For every UAE National on a MoHRE contract, submit the contract, salary and qualification details. This is what triggers the benefit assessment.
- 4Post roles and receive applications
Optional: publish Emirati-only vacancies and search the candidate pool.
- 5Maintain the record
New hires, salary changes and leavers must be updated. Benefits stop or are reassessed when the record is out of date.
Timing and activation
Register each new Emirati hire as soon as the MoHRE contract is issued, ideally in the same week as WPS and pension enrolment. Benefits are assessed from registration, not from the start date, so a two-month delay is two months of support the employee never receives — and a reason for them to look elsewhere.
Existing Emirati employees can be added when the establishment is first registered, subject to eligibility. Include them: it is the fastest way to improve retention among people already on payroll.
Every placement we make includes Nafis registration and benefit activation as part of onboarding, and our Nafis advisory service registers the establishment and reviews the whole Emirati headcount for companies that have never done it.
Common mistakes
- Hiring an Emirati and never registering the establishment on Nafis — the most common finding in first-time employers
- Registering late: support is not backdated to the start date
- Setting the salary just outside the eligible band without checking
- Treating the salary support as a reason to offer below market — candidates compare total packages
- Forgetting existing Emirati employees when the establishment is first registered
- Letting the Nafis record drift from payroll, which is picked up in inspections
Employer FAQ
The employee, paid directly by Nafis on top of the salary you pay. It does not reduce your payroll, but it lets you make a competitive total package without inflating your base salary bands.
Pension contribution support, where the government covers the employer’s share for eligible Emirati employees for a period, and training subsidies for approved programmes. Tier 1 classification also lowers your work-permit and transaction fees.
As soon as the MoHRE contract is issued. Benefits are not backdated to the start date if registration is late, and a missing registration is a common finding in inspections.
Existing Emirati employees can be added once the establishment is registered, subject to eligibility. We review the whole Emirati headcount during the advisory engagement.
