Recruitment and HR agencies in the UAE split into distinct regulatory categories depending on your actual service model — a distinction that matters both for licensing and for staying on the right side of MOHRE's rules.
Recruitment/placement vs. manpower supply
A recruitment or headhunting agency that sources and places candidates with employer clients (who then directly employ and sponsor the candidate) licenses under a general recruitment/HR consultancy activity through DET. A manpower supply model — where you employ workers directly and supply them to work under another company's day-to-day direction — is a different, more tightly regulated MOHRE activity classification with its own specific licensing requirements. Confirm which model actually describes your business before applying.
Never charge candidates a placement fee
This is a firm, non-negotiable rule: UAE labour regulations prohibit charging job seekers or candidates any fee for recruitment or placement services — your revenue must come from the hiring employer, not the person being placed. This applies regardless of how the fee is framed (registration fee, processing fee, CV enhancement fee) — charging candidates directly is a compliance violation with real penalties, not a grey area to work around.
Overseas recruitment adds complexity
If you're recruiting candidates from outside the UAE for placement with local employers, additional approvals and protections apply — particularly around ensuring candidates aren't charged fees in their home country either, and that offer terms are accurately represented before the candidate travels. Overseas recruitment agencies in some source countries also require specific bilateral agreement compliance, which is worth understanding if this is a significant part of your business model.
Contracts with employer clients
Clear terms with your employer clients — replacement guarantees if a placed candidate leaves within a set period, payment terms, and exclusivity arrangements — protect your agency from disputes and are worth formalising in writing from your very first placement, not after a dispute arises.
If you're building the paperwork side too
Once you're placing candidates, the Employment Contract Generator and 3 are useful references for what your employer clients' documentation should actually include, even though you're not the one issuing them directly in a pure placement model.
Costs and next steps
Model your setup cost with the Business Setup Cost Calculator, and confirm whether you need a recruitment/placement activity or a manpower supply classification with the Trade Licence Activity Finder before applying.