Sick Leave in UAE: Rules, Duration & Pay (2026)

The pay ladder

• Days 1–15: full salary
• Days 16–45: half salary
• Days 46–90: unpaid
• Beyond 90 days, continued absence can lead to termination (with end-of-service dues paid)

Certification rules

• Sick leave must be supported by a medical report from a licensed UAE medical facility
• Report it to your employer promptly — delays weaken your position in disputes
• Employers may request verification; forged certificates are a serious offence
• During probation, sick leave rules still apply, though some employers handle short absences informally

What employers can't do

• Cannot terminate you while on certified sick leave (within the 90-day entitlement)
• Cannot deduct sick days from your annual leave balance
• Cannot demand you work from home while certified unfit — though many employees choose to for short illnesses

The 90-day ladder with a worked salary example

An employee on AED 10,000 a month is certified unfit for 60 consecutive days after surgery. Here is exactly what lands in the bank:

• Days 1–15 (full pay): 15 ÷ 30 × 10,000 = AED 5,000
• Days 16–45 (half pay): 30 ÷ 30 × 5,000 = AED 5,000
• Days 46–60 (unpaid): AED 0
• Total for 60 days off: AED 10,000 — one month's salary for two months away

Across payslips: month one (15 full-pay days + 15 half-pay days) pays AED 7,500; month two (15 half-pay + 15 unpaid) pays AED 2,500. The pattern to watch: some payroll systems mistakenly apply half pay from day one, or keep paying half through the unpaid stretch — either error is worth flagging, because overpayments can later be clawed back from your salary.

The 90-day entitlement renews with each year of service, and intermittent certified absences draw from the same annual ladder — three separate 10-day illnesses in one year use 30 of your 90 days, moving you into the half-pay tier on the 16th cumulative day.

Chronic illness: what happens after day 90

Day 91 is the legal turning point: continued absence can lead to termination, but with your end-of-service dues paid in full — gratuity if you have completed a year, leave encashment, and salary to the last day. Termination here is not a penalty; it is how the law closes an employment that illness has made impossible, and your final settlement should reflect every dirham owed.

Before it gets there, options worth discussing with your employer and doctor:

• Planned treatment: if surgery is elective in timing, scheduling it early in a new service year gives you a fresh 90-day ladder.
• Reduced duties: some employers agree to lighter duties or remote work during recovery — get any arrangement in writing so it cannot later be framed as unauthorised absence.
• Annual leave as a buffer: you can request annual leave for recovery time, which is paid at the leave-salary rate rather than the sick-leave ladder — see how those days are valued in our leave salary calculation guide.

One hard line: never work while certified unfit just to "save" sick days for later. If the illness worsens, the paper trail matters more than the days.

Protecting yourself: a sick-leave paper trail checklist

Sick-leave disputes are almost always documentation disputes. Keep this file from the first day of illness:

1. Notify in writing immediately — a message to your manager and HR on day one, with the expected duration.
2. Get the medical report from a licensed UAE facility — notes from unlicensed practitioners will not hold up.
3. Submit the certificate promptly and keep a stamped copy; note the date you handed it over.
4. Track your tier — mark days 1–15, 16–45 and 46–90 on a calendar so you always know which pay rate applies.
5. Check WPS/bank credits against the expected ladder amounts each month — payroll errors compound quietly.
6. Refuse annual-leave deductions in writing if HR tries to code sick days as annual leave; the law keeps the two separate.