The short answer: the UAE is one of the few places where domestic work is governed by a dedicated law — Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 — which sets baseline rights like a weekly rest day, paid annual leave, and timely wage payment for sponsored workers. That makes record-keeping less optional than in most countries: a UAE household employer benefits from the same three tools as anywhere — daily attendance, a consistent salary calculation, and a monthly payslip — plus awareness of what the law and the sponsorship system already require.
The UAE context in brief
Most full-time domestic workers in the UAE — housemaids, nannies, cooks, drivers — are sponsored on a domestic-worker visa, hired directly or via licensed Tadbeer/recruitment centres. The 2022 domestic-workers law provides for, among other things: a written contract, timely payment of the agreed wage, one weekly rest day, 30 days of paid annual leave, medical care, and daily rest hours. Part-time and hourly help through licensed agencies is also common, priced per hour or per visit. (Details evolve; check the MOHRE website for current rules — this article is practical guidance, not legal advice.)
Salaries: what UAE households typically pay (2026)
| Role | Typical monthly range (AED) |
|---|---|
| Live-in housemaid (sponsored) | 1,500–3,000 + food & lodging |
| Live-out full-time maid | 2,500–4,500 |
| Nanny (full-time) | 2,500–5,000 |
| Cook (full-time) | 2,500–5,000 |
| Family driver | 2,500–4,500 |
| Part-time cleaning (agency) | 25–45 per hour |
Ranges vary with nationality-linked market norms, experience, and emirate; Dubai and Abu Dhabi trend higher. Treat these as indicative.
Why records matter more under sponsorship
- Wage disputes have a forum. MOHRE handles domestic-worker complaints; a dated attendance and payment record is the employer's (and worker's) best evidence that wages were paid correctly and on time.
- The weekly rest day is a legal entitlement — so your working-days base is effectively 26, and the attendance-based salary formula applies cleanly to any unpaid absences beyond it.
- Annual leave needs counting. Thirty days of paid annual leave (plus the common practice of a flight home every one or two years) only stays fair if someone tracks what's been taken.
- Advances against salary are extremely common — remittance schedules to home countries make mid-month advances routine. The record-at-handover system prevents the classic drift.
The monthly payslip, AED edition
The standard payslip format translates directly — salary in AED, attendance against a 26-day base, advances itemised, net payable bold — and a WhatsApp payslip is if anything more valuable in the UAE: most workers remit money home and keep family informed, so a clean, timestamped written record travels well. The StaffAround app interface runs in 12 languages including Arabic, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, and Bengali — the languages UAE households actually use — and displays amounts in your local currency based on your country.
A 10-minute setup for a UAE household
- Add each staff member with role, monthly AED salary, and schedule (6-day week with the agreed rest day).
- Mark attendance daily — one tap, works offline, syncs later.
- Log any advance the moment it's handed over or transferred.
- At month end, share the payslip on WhatsApp or as a PDF, and pay on the fixed date.
Everything the law expects you to be able to demonstrate — timely pay, rest days respected, leave counted — falls out of that habit automatically. Start free with up to 2 staff members.