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Emiratisation contribution calculator

What an unfilled position costs per month under the published rates — and which parts of that figure a calculator is not entitled to guess.

Private-sector establishments in the UAE with 50 or more employees pay a monthly contribution for each skilled position not filled by an Emirati national — AED 6,000 per month in 2023, rising AED 1,000 a year to AED 9,000 in 2026. Establishments with 20 to 49 employees in specified sectors pay a single annual amount instead. Your target percentage is set by MoHRE, so this tool asks for it rather than assuming one.

Your establishment

Which framework applies?

Published rate: AED 9,000 per unfilled position, per month.

The count the target applies to — not your total headcount.

Set by MoHRE, not by this tool. Enter the percentage that applies to your establishment for this period.

In the skilled roles counted above.

The framework raises Emiratisation in skilled roles by two per cent a year toward a ten per cent increase by 2026. Your own target percentage and reporting period are set by MoHRE — enter the one that applies to you.

Estimated contribution

Required Emirati positions
8
Shortfall
4
Contribution per month
AED 36,000
Over twelve months
AED 432,000

An estimate from the published rates and the numbers you entered — not a determination, and not legal advice. Whether you are in scope, at what target and for which reporting period is decided by MoHRE. Nothing you type here leaves your browser.

Where these rates come from

Two frameworks, two different shapes of obligation, and conflating them overstates the smaller one by a factor of twelve.

  • 50 or more employees

    Private-sector establishments with 50 or more employees, counted on skilled roles.

    Ministerial Resolution No. 279 of 2022 — 2023: AED 6,000 per month · 2024: AED 7,000 per month · 2025: AED 8,000 per month · 2026: AED 9,000 per month

  • 20 to 49 employees

    Private-sector establishments with 20 to 49 employees, in the fourteen sectors the resolution specifies.

    Ministerial Resolution No. 455 of 2023 — 2025: AED 96,000 for the year · 2026: AED 108,000 for the year

Targets and amounts are set by ministerial resolution and revised over time. These were last checked against the official portal on 2026-09-21. Treat the source as the authority and this page as a summary that may have aged: Emiratisation — targets, resolutions and the NAFIS programme (The Official Portal of the UAE Government).

The trap this number sets

A quota with a monthly cost attached creates an obvious incentive: put Emirati candidates to the front of screening. It is also the move that converts a compliance programme into a discrimination exposure, because a process that scores people on nationality is doing the thing fairness law exists to prevent — and it degrades hiring quality as a side effect.

The design that avoids it separates the two functions completely. Screening evaluates ability with no nationality signal available to any ranking path. Quota reporting counts nationals among people actually hired, using status captured after a consented identity reveal. An employer that meets its target can then show how: a documented, ability-based process plus a separate count — which is a considerably better position than one where the quota and the screening criteria are the same thing.

The full picture, including the PDPL obligations that run alongside this, is on hiring in the United Arab Emirates.

Questions about Emiratisation contributions

How much is the Emiratisation contribution per unfilled position?
For establishments with 50 or more employees, the published schedule under Ministerial Resolution No. 279 of 2022 began at AED 6,000 per month per unfilled position in 2023 and rises by AED 1,000 each year, reaching AED 9,000 per month in 2026. Establishments with 20 to 49 employees in specified sectors fall under Ministerial Resolution No. 455 of 2023, which sets a single annual amount instead: AED 96,000 in January 2025 and AED 108,000 in January 2026 for each required hire not made.
Why does the calculator ask for my target percentage instead of working it out?
Because it cannot be worked out from a headcount. The framework raises Emiratisation in skilled roles by two per cent a year toward a ten per cent increase by 2026, but the target that applies to a specific establishment depends on its size, its sector and how MoHRE classifies it. A calculator that guessed would not give you a vague answer — it would give you a precise figure in dirhams for a liability you may not have.
Is this an official figure?
No. It is an estimate computed from published rates and the numbers you type in. MoHRE determines whether you are in scope, at what target, and for which reporting period, and its figure is the one that counts. The official source is linked on this page.
Do the numbers I enter get sent anywhere?
No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser. There is no network request in it and no endpoint to receive one. Your headcount and your Emirati employee count are commercially sensitive, and given what they reveal about a compliance position, keeping them on the device was the only defensible design.
Can we meet the target by prioritising Emirati candidates in screening?
That is the obvious response to a quota with a monthly cost attached, and it is the one that turns a compliance programme into a discrimination exposure. On CalHire it is not available: national status is never visible to any scoring or ranking path, and is captured only after a consented identity reveal, where the quota reporting layer reads it. The lever for a quota shortfall is sourcing, not scoring.
Does a surplus in one period offset a shortfall in another?
Not as far as the published framework goes, which is why the calculator floors the shortfall at zero rather than showing a negative contribution. If you are over target, confirm how that is treated for your reporting period with MoHRE.

Read further

Emiratisation targets, reporting, and keeping a quota out of your screening model.

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