When your helper stops coming to work: what to do, and what the law says

If your helper stops coming to work, try to reach her, check she is safe and note the date. Under the Domestic Workers Decree-Law, an employer must notify MOHRE within five days if a domestic worker abandons work. As of September 2026, we found no official page on how families file the report, so ask MOHRE on 600 590000.

MOHRE is the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, which issues domestic workers' work permits, and the Domestic Workers Decree-Law is Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 (opens in a new tab). MOHRE's documents call the employer's report an absconding report or an absence report. In this guide we call it a work abandonment report, because a helper can stop coming for many reasons.

What should you do first?

Try to reach her, keep a record, and keep the legal deadline in view. In order:

1. Try to reach her. Call and message her, and contact anyone she named as an emergency contact. She may be ill, in hospital or unable to get back, so ask how she is before anything else.
2. Write down the dates. Note the last day she worked, when you last heard from her and each attempt you made to reach her.
3. Tell MOHRE in time. The deadline is in the next section. If you're unsure whether her absence counts as abandoning work, ask MOHRE on 600 590000 as soon as you can.
4. If a recruitment office placed her, tell the office. What it owes you depends on the package you took (see the table below).
5. Don't hold on to her documents. Under the Domestic Workers Decree-Law, a domestic worker has the right to keep all their official documents, including their passport and ID, and an employer may not hold them. If her passport or Emirates ID is with you, ask MOHRE what to do with it.
6. Gather your records. Find your copy of her contract and your records of what you've paid her. Payment of a domestic worker's wages must be proven by a written receipt or another method MOHRE approves.

Do you have to report it to MOHRE?

Yes, if she has abandoned work: the law sets a deadline for each side. Under the Domestic Workers Decree-Law, an employer must notify MOHRE within five days if a domestic worker abandons work. Under the Domestic Workers Decree-Law, a domestic worker who leaves work without the employer's knowledge must notify MOHRE within two days.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) describes the same two duties in its May 2024 summary of UAE rules. If a recruitment office sponsors her, tell the office straight away (see the table below).

How do you file the report?

As of September 2026, we found no official page that sets out how a family files a work abandonment report for a domestic worker: which channel to use, what to submit or whether there is a fee. So call MOHRE on 600 590000, ask how to file and what they need from you, and note the date and what you're told.

When does her contract end?

Under the Domestic Workers Decree-Law, a domestic worker's contract ends if the worker is absent without a valid reason for more than 10 consecutive days, or 15 separate days, in a year. We found no official page that explains how this rule and the report deadline fit together, or who decides whether a reason is valid. Ask MOHRE on 600 590000 before you treat the contract as over.

Could she have had a reason to leave?

Possibly, so find out before you assume the worst. A helper can stop coming because she is ill, has an emergency at home, or is unhappy about her pay, her hours or how she is treated. The law recognises that a worker may need to leave:

• The ILO's May 2024 brief on UAE rules says that if the employer or the employer's representative commits assault, including sexual assault or humiliation, a domestic worker may leave immediately without notice, but must report to the competent authorities at once and tell MOHRE within three days of leaving.
• The Decree-Law also lets a worker leave in other cases set out in its Executive Regulations. We couldn't read their official text, so we don't list those cases here.

If you and she disagree about money she is owed or other terms of her job, try to settle it together first. Under the Domestic Workers Decree-Law as amended, a dispute between a domestic worker and an employer that cannot be settled amicably must go to MOHRE first. Our employer's checklist to the domestic worker law sets out an employer's duties.

What happens after a report?

It can affect her future work, so report only what has happened. Under MOHRE's operations manual for recruitment agencies, an agency may not offer or place workers who have absconding reports or who are sponsored by someone else.

If you pay her through the Wage Protection System (WPS), the report matters there too. Under Ministerial Resolution No. 675 of 2022, the Wage Protection System's payment rules do not apply to a domestic worker who has been reported absent.

Beyond that, as of September 2026, we found no official page that sets out what happens to a worker after a report, how she can respond to one, or how an employer withdraws one. If she comes back, or you learn she had a reason to be away, contact MOHRE on 600 590000 straight away and explain what happened.

What happens to her visa and work permit?

We found no official page that says what happens to her work permit and residence after a report, or whether you should cancel them yourself, so ask MOHRE before you apply to cancel anything. MOHRE also has a general cancellation service. Cancelling a domestic worker's work permit or entry permit through MOHRE costs AED 65, or AED 85.75 in Dubai, as of September 2026. Our guide to cancelling a maid visa covers the general steps.

Can you get a refund if an agency placed her?

It depends on how she was hired. If a licensed recruitment office recruited her, MOHRE's rules can give you a replacement or a refund; if you hired her yourself, those rules don't apply.

On the Traditional package, the refund depends on timing:

• A domestic worker's probation may not last more than six months from the start of employment.
• Under MOHRE's operations manual for recruitment agencies, once an absence report is filed for a worker an agency recruited, the agency must refund the family: in full or pro-rata during probation, and pro-rata after it.
• When a refund is due, a recruitment agency repays the full recruitment fee in the first month, the full fee plus government fees if the worker is medically unfit during probation, and otherwise a pro-rata share for the months left on the contract.

If an office doesn't replace her or refund you when MOHRE's rules say it should, you can complain to MOHRE. MOHRE's employer guide lists these channels for a complaint against a domestic worker recruitment office: MOHRE's website, the MOHRE UAE app, the Labour Claims and Advisory Call Centre on 80084 and the MOHRE call centre on 600 590000. Our guide to probation, replacement and refunds goes into the detail.

What happens to her salary and dues?

As of September 2026, we found no official page that says how a helper's unpaid wages and other dues are settled after she stops coming to work, so ask MOHRE on 600 590000 before you settle anything. These are the general rules:

• Wages. A domestic worker's wages must be paid monthly in UAE dirhams, within 10 days of the due date.
• Final dues. When a domestic worker's contract expires, the employer must pay the worker's dues within 10 days. We found no official page that says whether that deadline also applies when a contract ends because she stopped coming.
• Her flight home. The employer pays for a domestic worker's flight home, except that the agency pays when an agency-recruited worker is returned, a directly recruited worker who quits after probation without a valid reason pays their own unless they cannot, and the original employer does not pay when the worker moves to a new employer. We found no official page that says how these rules apply when she stops coming to work.
• Charging her for costs. An employer may not charge a domestic worker any cost, directly or indirectly, unless the law, the regulations, MOHRE decisions or the approved contract allow it.

Our guide to ending a contract and final dues covers unused leave and the flight home in more detail.

How do you hire a new helper legally?

Through a legal route, with a MOHRE work permit for the job with you before she starts. Employing a domestic worker without a work permit for that job is punishable by a fine of AED 50,000 to AED 200,000. We found no official page that says whether an open report, or your previous helper's permit if it hasn't been cancelled, affects a new application, so ask MOHRE on 600 590000 before you apply. Our guide to hiring a maid in the UAE compares the legal routes.

If the helper you choose already works for another family in the UAE, agree the move with them first. The ILO's May 2024 brief on UAE rules, citing Ministerial Resolution No. 674 of 2022, says a domestic worker's move to a new employer during the contract term needs the current employer's written consent. Our guide to hiring a helper who is already in the UAE covers the transfer step by step, and our guide to checking references and documents covers what to ask about her last job.

MaidMatch can help with the search. Most helpers listed on MaidMatch are already in the UAE and ready to work. MaidMatch is a free platform for families: they can browse every profile at no cost, with no registration or subscription required. Families contact helpers directly on WhatsApp, through the Hire button on each profile.

Sponsorship is the employer's responsibility; families can manage the visa themselves or ask MaidMatch to connect them with its visa partners. Tap the WhatsApp button on this page if you'd like us to connect you.