Warning Letter to Employee (UAE): Sample and Legal Rules

A warning letter is the written sanction an employer gives when an employee breaks a rule of the job. In the UAE it is one of the seven disciplinary sanctions the Labour Law allows, and the Executive Regulation sets the procedure behind it: written notice of the accusation, a hearing, a written record, and strict time limits. This page sets out those rules, what a warning letter must say, how warnings connect to dismissal, and gives an editable sample in Word and PDF. The rules were checked against Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 and Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022 and apply to mainland and most free zone employers; DIFC and ADGM have their own employment laws.

The sanctions a UAE employer may impose

Article 39 of the Labour Law gives a closed list. An employer may use only these, and only one per violation:

Separately, Article 25 caps deductions for violations under the establishment’s approved sanctions regulation at 5% of the wage, and all deductions together at 50%. The law states both limits without reconciling them, so apply both. The official MOHRE English translation of Article 39 reads “not less than five days” for the deduction, which contradicts Article 25; the text on the UAE Legislation portal says “not exceeding”.

The procedure before a warning

Article 24 of the Executive Regulation applies to every sanction, including a warning:

1. Written notice of the accusation. The employee is told in writing what is attributed to them.
2. A hearing. Their statements and defence are heard and documented in a report placed on their personal file, with the sanction appended at the end of the report.
3. Time limits. No accusation for a violation discovered more than 30 days earlier, and no sanction more than 60 days after the investigation ends and the violation is established.
4. Proportionality. The sanction must match the gravity of the violation, judged by criteria such as the impact on health and safety, the financial and reputational harm, abuse of powers, repetition and any criminal or moral aspect.
5. Written notice of the sanction. The employee is told its type and value, the reasons, and the sanction for a repeat.

The employer must also keep a list of sanctions covering the Article 39 penalties. An establishment with 50 or more workers must have written work regulations that include that list, communicated to employees in a language they understand. A sanction cannot be imposed for conduct outside the workplace unless it relates to the work.

What a warning letter should say

• The date, a reference number, the employee’s name, ID, job title and department.
• Whether it is a first or final warning.
• The facts: date, time and a short, objective description of what happened.
• The rule, instruction or contract clause that was breached.
• The date of the hearing and a summary of the employee’s response.
• The sanction imposed, here a written warning, and the expected conduct from now on.
• The sanction that will follow a repeat, as the regulation requires.
• The employee’s right to file a grievance with management, and the deadline you set for it.
• An authorised signature and an acknowledgement of receipt, stating that signing confirms receipt only.

The law does not require the employee’s signature on a warning; it requires written notification and a documented hearing. If an employee refuses to sign, record the refusal and a witness.

How warnings lead to dismissal

Warnings matter later because of Article 44. An employer may dismiss without notice an employee who fails to perform their basic duties and continues despite a written investigation and two warnings of dismissal for repetition. That is the only point where the law counts warnings; it sets no number of warnings before other sanctions and says nothing about when a warning expires. Keep each warning, with its hearing report, on file.

While a serious case is investigated, the employer may suspend the employee for up to 30 days on half pay; if the investigation is closed, finds no violation or ends in a warning, the withheld half is paid back.

The employee’s right to respond

An employee can file a grievance with the establishment’s management against any sanction, attaching the sanction, and must not be harmed for doing so; the employer notifies the outcome. This does not affect their right to file a labour claim with MOHRE. Large employers must set a time frame for written replies to grievances in their work regulations.

Common mistakes

• Issuing the warning without first notifying the employee in writing and hearing them.
• Waiting too long: 30 days from discovering the violation, 60 days from the end of the investigation.
• Two sanctions for one violation, for example a warning and a deduction.
• Deducting more than the law allows.
• A vague letter that does not state the facts, the rule and the consequence of a repeat.
• Warning someone for off-duty conduct that has nothing to do with the job.

If the conduct continues, see the termination letter guide, including the cases in which dismissal without notice is allowed. Employee rights in general are summarised in UAE labour law and employee rights.