Leaving your job? Your UAE employer must give you an experience certificate for free if you request one when your contract ends. Gulf News explains that it should include your employment dates, job title, last salary and reason for leaving. It mustn't contain remarks that damage your reputation or job prospects. You can also get an official employment history certificate through MOHRE.

The details

Employees leaving a job in the UAE have a legal right to request an experience certificate from their employer without paying a fee.

The requirement is established under Article 13, Clause 11, of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, the UAE Labour Law.

A Gulf News guide published on 3 November explains what the document must contain and how employees can obtain it.

An experience certificate serves as an official record of an employee's time with a company.

It must specify the employment start and end dates, total period of service, job title or type of work performed, last salary received and reason the employment contract ended.

Employers must provide the certificate free of charge when requested at the end of employment.

The law also prohibits including information that could harm the employee's reputation or reduce their prospects of securing another job.

Workers can request the document from their employer or human resources department.

An official digital employment history certificate is also available through the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation app.

According to the ministry information cited by Gulf News, the digital certificate is valid for one month, and employers can verify it through MOHRE's online services.

An experience certificate is not a mandatory document for every job application, but it can help with employment verification.

This is an existing legal entitlement, not a newly introduced regulation.