Four cases when UAE domestic worker agencies must refund fees

If you hired a domestic worker through a licensed UAE agency and the placement went wrong, you may be entitled to a fee refund. The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) has set out four cases where agencies must return money.

If you hired a domestic worker through a licensed UAE agency and the placement went wrong, you may be entitled to a fee refund. The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) has set out four cases where agencies must return money.

The rules sit in MoHRE labour-market guidance and apply to licensed recruitment agencies. They do not cover every bad hire. They also do not apply when you recruit a named worker yourself without using the agency recruitment service.

The four refund cases

MoHRE says licensed agencies must reimburse employers when any of these apply during the probation period or under the recruitment agreement:

• The worker fails professional competency or behavioural standards
• The worker resigns or leaves the job
• You end the contract because agreed conditions in the preliminary agreement or recruitment contract were not met
• The worker is found medically unfit for the role during probation, including recovery of government fees you already paid

Those four situations are the ones to check first before you write the cost off.

How fast the refund should arrive

Agencies must return the relevant amounts within two weeks. The clock starts when the worker is sent back to the agency, or when the worker is reported as having absconded. Missing that window is itself a violation MoHRE has flagged.

In 2025, 57 domestic worker recruitment agencies recorded a combined 300 violations. Most of those cases involved agencies failing to refund all or part of recruitment fees on time. That is the exact pattern the ministry is tightening oversight on.

Later enforcement updates have kept the same theme. MoHRE has fined dozens of offices for labour-law breaches where refund delays were among the most common issues. The message for employers is steady: the two-week refund rule is real, and the ministry is watching it.

What MoHRE can do to agencies

Penalties can include administrative, financial, and legal measures. Repeat offenders can lose their licence under Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 and its implementing regulations. MoHRE says it uses field inspections and smart monitoring tools to catch non-compliance.

The ministry also reminds employers to use only licensed centres. It lists 136 authorised domestic worker recruitment centres across the UAE. Unlicensed offices and social-media recruiters sit outside this protection. If you hire outside the licensed network, the refund path described here may not be available.

How to claim and protect yourself

Start with the written recruitment contract and any preliminary agreement. Those documents define what "agreed conditions" means for your case. If a refund applies, put the request in writing to the agency. Keep proof of the return date or absconding report. If the agency misses the two-week window, file a complaint through MoHRE official channels rather than negotiating only on WhatsApp.

Before you hire, check that the agency is licensed. MoHRE has closed unlicensed offices before. It has also warned against recruitment ads on social media that skip the licensed network. A cheaper unlicensed hire can cost more when something goes wrong and there is no refund path.

If you are mid-dispute, gather these items first: the signed recruitment contract, payment receipts, medical fitness results if relevant, and any agency messages about the worker's exit. Then contact MoHRE with that file. Clear paperwork shortens the complaint path. Vague verbal claims do not.

Employers should also remember the limit of the rule. Direct name recruitment without the agency service is outside the refund duty. So is a later dispute that is not covered by the four cases. Read the four points again before you assume a full refund is automatic.

💬 Have you ever had to claim a domestic-worker recruitment refund in the UAE, and did the agency pay within two weeks?