How to File a Complaint with MOHRE in UAE?

How to File a Complaint with MOHRE: A Worker's Guide

If you're in the UAE private sector and your employer has stopped paying you, withheld your passport, or fired you for raising a problem, your first stop is a complaint with MOHRE — the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation. Here's how it actually works in 2025, not the brochure version.

Quick answer

You file a complaint with MOHRE by calling 600 590000, using the MOHRE app, or visiting a Tas-heel centre. The labour relations team contacts both sides and tries to settle within roughly 14 days. If no settlement, MOHRE refers the file to the Court of First Instance with a memo summarising the dispute. Claims under AED 50,000 (and disputes where parties already agreed via MOHRE) go on an expedited track. Filing is free for workers. You don't need a lawyer to start.

Who can file a complaint with MOHRE

Anyone employed under a MOHRE work permit. That covers most private-sector mainland employees and onshore free zone staff whose permits sit with MOHRE.

It does not cover DIFC or ADGM employees — those run through the DIFC Employment Tribunal and ADGM Courts respectively. Domestic workers (nannies, drivers, housemaids) have their own track under Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022, but you still call the same 600 590000 number. Government employees go through their HR authority, not MOHRE.

Common grounds for a complaint mohre will accept: unpaid wages (especially WPS — the Wages Protection System — violations), arbitrary dismissal, end-of-service gratuity disputes, unpaid overtime, passport retention, and refusal to cancel a visa after resignation. Frankly, the wages and gratuity files are the bread and butter — MOHRE handles thousands every month.

How to actually file the complaint

Three working options:

1. Call 600 590000. The fastest route. An agent logs your details, opens a file, and SMSes you a reference number. Have your Emirates ID, labour card number, and a short summary of dates and amounts ready.

2. MOHRE smart app or mohre.gov.ae. Log in with UAE Pass. Under "Services" pick "Labour Complaints." Upload your contract, pay slips, WPS records (download these from your bank), and any termination letter. In my experience, the app is faster than calling if you've got documents ready to upload.

3. Tas-heel centre walk-in. Useful if you're not confident in English or Arabic, or if your documents are messy. The typing centre staff will help you draft the complaint for a small fee (usually AED 100-200).

Filing the complaint itself costs you nothing. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

What happens after you file

MOHRE assigns a labour relations specialist. They call your employer, share your version, and schedule a mediation — often by phone, sometimes in person at a MOHRE office. The legal basis sits in Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on Regulating Labour Relations, Article 54, which requires amicable settlement attempts before court referral.^[1]

If both sides agree, MOHRE drafts a settlement memo. Signed, it's enforceable like a judgment. Done.

If no agreement within roughly 14 working days, MOHRE issues a referral letter to the Court of First Instance. You take that letter to the court within 14 days to register your case. Claims up to AED 50,000 and disputes where parties already reached partial agreement at MOHRE go on a fast track — single judge, expedited hearings. Larger or more complex files go to the standard labour circuit.

Court filing fees for labour claims are waived for workers under Article 54 of the same law. That waiver is one of the few genuinely worker-friendly features of the system — use it.

What to bring and what to expect

Pull together: your employment contract, Emirates ID, passport copy, latest pay slips, WPS transaction history from your bank for the disputed months, termination or resignation letter, any WhatsApp or email exchanges with HR, and a one-page timeline of what happened. Numbers matter — write the exact AED amounts you're owed, month by month.

A realistic timeline: 2-3 weeks at MOHRE, then 1-3 months at court if it escalates. Smaller fast-track claims sometimes wrap in 6 weeks total. Don't expect overnight results, but don't expect years either — UAE labour courts move faster than most jurisdictions.

One warning. If you've already absconded or your employer has filed an absconding report against you, sort that out first. An active absconding case will complicate, sometimes block, your MOHRE complaint. Get legal advice before walking in.

For broader context on workplace disputes, see our employment law category.

Citations

^[1] Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations, Article 54 (as amended by Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2023). UAE Ministry of Justice — elaws.moj.gov.ae.

^[2] MOHRE — Labour Complaints Service. mohre.gov.ae/en/services.

^[3] Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 on Domestic Workers. UAE Official Gazette.

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