UAE employee onboarding 'one-stop shop' extension

Introduction

In a concerted effort with various government entities, the United Arab Emirates ("UAE") Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, has unveiled the second phase of the transformative "Work Bundle" initiative. This initiative represents a significant overhaul of the administrative framework governing the onboarding of employees, transitioning from a multi-step, department-specific submission process to a unified, streamlined ‘Work in UAE’ platform for employment and residency procedures. Initially launched in Dubai in March 2024, this initiative has now been expanded to encompass all emirates, thereby standardising procedures across the UAE.

The Work Bundle initiative is designed to consolidate the disparate requirements of several government departments into a single, efficient "one-stop shop". This centralised platform allows for the submission of necessary information just once, which can then be accessed by the relevant departments accordingly.

The implications of this are:

• a reduction in administrative burden: by eliminating the need for multiple submissions to different departments, the Work Bundle reduces the administrative load of HR departments grappling with the complexity of the former system; and
• expedited processing times: the most striking feature of the Work Bundle is its promise to reduce the processing time for critical employment and residency procedures from 30 days to a mere five days enabling swifter staff deployment and more agile business operations.

Next steps

If you have any enquiries regarding this update or UAE employment-related matters, please contact Emily Daly or your usual contact in the Middle East employment team at Stephenson Harwood.