Gulf News Living in the UAE Editor, Huda Tabrez, joins Tell Me Why podcast host Maria Botros to discuss the advantages of working as a freelancer in the UAE and best practices to get the most out of the experience.
The first step for freelancers wishing to work in the UAE is to get a permit
Freelancers can get permits from freezones or mainland companies
Residents can have a full-time job but also do part-time jobs for an extra source of income without breaking the law
Freelancers should get all agreements in writing to secure rights
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#UAEnews #jobs #freelancework
The first step for freelancers wishing to work in the UAE is to get a permit
Freelancers can get permits from freezones or mainland companies
Residents can have a full-time job but also do part-time jobs for an extra source of income without breaking the law
Freelancers should get all agreements in writing to secure rights
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV
#UAEnews #jobs #freelancework
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NewsTranscript
00:00The Ministry of Human Resources has said you don't need approval from your current employer to work
00:05part-time. What you do need to do is apply for a part-time work permit with More. But when they
00:11were promoting this service, they actually said you don't need approval from your employer to
00:16work part-time, but you do need to apply for a work permit to work part-time legally in the UAE.
00:23All right, welcome to a brand new episode of Tell Me Why. I'm joined today by Huda Tabrez,
00:36who's gonna talk to us about, you know, Huda's gonna join us quite a few times on this show
00:42because she is our resident guru when it comes to living in the UAE. So anything, laws, regulations,
00:48we always go to Huda. We ask Huda. And we ask the people who actually make the regulations.
00:54Exactly, of course. I mean, Huda obviously asks the professionals and the officials,
00:59but Huda is our guru in-house. Huda, how are you? I'm well, how are you, Maria? All good,
01:05all good. Okay, so today's topic is actually quite interesting because I spent the majority of my
01:11career working as a freelancer, and I find this interesting because a lot of the things that
01:17you're going to be talking to us about today, I did not know. And I feel like... And you've worked
01:22as a freelancer. Exactly. I've never had anyone, you know, sit me down and explain the rules,
01:28explain the laws, or tell me what my rights are. And I think it's very important because more and
01:33more people are working as freelancers. And then on the other side, there are people that are doing
01:38part-time with their full-time jobs. So we're going to be tackling both. Yes, so today's topic
01:43is tell me why I should freelance in the UAE. And we look at both aspects. If you want to be
01:49a full-time freelancer and just work as a freelancer, or if you're an expert in your field,
01:54and you've got some time on your hands, and you want a second source of income, make some money
01:59on the side, can you work as a consultant as a freelancer? We look at all the options that are
02:04available and what are the rules you should keep in mind when you're going down that path so that,
02:08like you said, your rights are protected. Amazing. Okay, so let's start with, I'm a freelancer,
02:14I want to work as a freelancer, just do all these different gigs, no contracts. I just, I mean,
02:18there is a contract, of course, I saw that look. I mean, like, nothing binding. Let's start with
02:26that. Right. You know, we'll go into the part-time, maybe like throughout the episode. But let's start
02:32with freelancing. So you are, you're someone who has a particular skill. And you want to put that
02:38to use as an independent worker. Right. First thing that you should make sure you do is get a
02:43permit to be a freelancer. Okay. So step one to being a freelancer is how can I get a freelance
02:50permit? Okay. And there are so many options that have been introduced more recently as well.
02:56While earlier, a lot of people would choose to go to a free zone, because free zones had a lot of
03:01freelance work options. Just kind of a background information, you've got free zone and you've got
03:07mainland. So the mainland companies are what you call the private sector in the UAE. And then free
03:13zones have their own regulations, they have a lot more flexibility to kind of set up the systems
03:18according to their industry, according to their like, you know, their own space. So free zones,
03:23just to recap, free zones are not considered private sector. When they talk about the UAE
03:28private sector, they're talking about the mainland companies. Okay. So when you talk about the
03:32Ministry of Human Resources and amortization, it talks about the private sector that refers to
03:37companies operating in the mainland. And then you've got free zone, free zones, which have
03:43companies operating within the free zone as well. And each free zone will have their own regulations
03:49that are catered to their industry. Okay. So while earlier, a lot of people would go for a freelance
03:54work permit with a free zone. Now, when it comes to mainland, you've got Dubai introducing like,
04:00you know, the freelance permit, Ministry of Human Resources, introducing a freelance permit,
04:06Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development has a freelancer permit. And what that does is it
04:11gives you so many options to get a permit wherever you want. So when you're working in a free zone,
04:18there are certain limitations that you work within that free zone. With mainland, you have,
04:23like you, like I said, it's the private sector. So you can actually operate within that sector
04:26itself. There are specific requirements that you need to fulfill, though. So you might need to
04:32prove that you've been earning some amount of money for the past two years to apply for the
04:37permit. Okay, that's a requirement for the Mori permit, for example, you've got to give like,
04:42your earnings for the past two years, and it should be above a certain threshold.
04:45So if I'm a fresh graduate, and I'm like, you know, starting work right off the bat,
04:49like nothing to my name, if you don't have any previous income, you might want to look at what
04:54are the requirements within a free zone. Maybe start with that, and then maybe transition. Okay,
04:59well, that's fair enough to look at the industry that you want to work in. So while I was like,
05:04you know, collecting all these articles that we've done over several topics, I was also looking at
05:08what are the in demand freelance positions. And you have a lot of requirements for occupations,
05:15which are consultant related occupation. So you're an expert in the field and you want to
05:18provide consultancy services, a lot of IT developer positions, a lot of content strategy,
05:25graphic design positions. And I think because of that, there are a lot of free zones focused
05:30on those industries as well. So you might want to go to those free zones that are catered to
05:35the industry that you want to work in. For media, you've got Dubai Media City, you've got the 2454
05:41in Abu Dhabi, Ajman has a media zone, media free zone. I believe Fujairah, yes, Fujairah has a
05:47media free zone as well, which is focused on that industry, for example. Oh, great. So just on that
05:53topic, can you tell us maybe the top three industries that you like that are like the
05:58top three freelance industries, let's say? I couldn't. You can't? Okay. There isn't such a
06:03thing like it's available. There are over 40 free zones in the UAE. Okay. You've got media,
06:09which is a big part of it. You've got tech. So you've got Internet City, you've got a lot of
06:14tech industries, like, you know, companies as well. But then you have so many other industries
06:19like maritime industry, which has its own free zone. So you've you've got so many industries
06:24that are like, you know, open to people to work in. Okay, you just have to look at what are your
06:30what is your situation? And do you have an industry that that like, you know, sorry, are you
06:34working in the industry that has a specific free zone? That might be better to kind of start off
06:38with because you'll have clients there that are working in your industry. All right, so let's dive
06:43into it. You said we need to get a permit. Yeah. So that was my background to just understanding
06:48free zone and mainland. Right. But get a work permit. That's step one. So get a freelance work
06:53permit. And if you're not on a family visa, for example, if you're on your spouse's visa on or on
06:59your father's or your mother's visa, you have a family visa already, you don't need to worry about
07:03having a visa in place. But if you don't have that, the next step would be to apply for a visa
07:07as well. So just to avoid any confusion, because I know that a lot of like new expats or fresh
07:14graduates don't know the difference between the permit and the visa. And they sometimes think
07:18they're interlinked. So the permit has to do with the job, the visa has to do with your status in
07:24the country, residency status, residency status in the country. So the permit, let's start off with
07:29that. For me to apply to it, who do I go through? Again, go to a free zone authority. If you want
07:36to go to a free zone, or go to the Ministry of Human Resources, or number three is the Economic
07:42Department of any emirate. Amazing. So DED, Dubai Economic Department, ADDED, Abu Dhabi
07:49Department of Economic Development, Sharjah Economic Development Department. You've got
07:54every emirate having its own economic department. And what I what I see like, you know, from the
08:00information we get is the cost can be a huge factor for a freelancer, obviously, it can really
08:06range from one to 2000 dirhams for the permit per year, up to over 7000 dirhams per year. Wow,
08:13what kind of like, you know, work are you doing? What kind of payment are you expecting? Is it
08:18making sense for you financially? Make sure you do your research and then apply for the permit.
08:23Okay, because that's going to be a yearly or a two yearly cost based on which permit you apply
08:28for. Okay. And just like a follow up question on that, would companies actually offer to make that
08:34permit for you? So as a freelancer, would a company actually volunteer to process the permit
08:40for you? If they're a free if they're already a company in the free zone, right in a free zone,
08:46right? Would they offer that as a package? Would companies do that? If it's a business setup
08:50company, that's a service they provide, but they're not going to be your client. They're not
08:54Yes, no, no, just but you can go to a business setup company, you could go to even a typing
08:59center, who are experts in like, you know, applications to immigration and to economic
09:04departments. There are people who can help you with this. Okay, so they can tell you whether
09:10you should go for a freelance permit, whether there are other options available for you as a
09:13solo worker, what are the options available, there are, there are a lot of consultants available that
09:20can actually provide this information to you. Okay, so go to a business setup consultant,
09:24or go to, like, you know, typing center, or even a business center, you see business centers,
09:30when you're driving down the road, those business centers are perfect places for freelancers to kind
09:35of visit and find out, hey, I want to be, for example, a graphic designer, can I get a permit?
09:41What are my options, and they might kind of facilitate the process for you, they'll obviously
09:45have their service fees. But yeah, you can get help through them as well. So now that we've
09:51covered permits, let's go into visa, visa. So if you don't have a residency, a visa available,
09:57find out with the people you applied for first, if you went to the free zone, ask the free zone,
10:01can I also apply for a visa through you? And usually you can. If you've gone to the Ministry
10:06of Human Resources and Amortization, which is Mori, you'll have to apply for the visa through
10:12either ICP, which is for Abu Dhabi, if you're in Abu Dhabi, if you're in Sharjah, Ajman,
10:18you'd have to apply to ICP, the full form for ICP is Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship,
10:23Custom, and Port Security. That is the immigration authority for these emirates. If you're in Dubai,
10:29you can apply through GDRFA, which is the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs
10:33in Dubai. So just find out which immigration authority you should approach, GDRFA, ICP,
10:40or the free zone, and apply for your visa there. And that would be a separate cost that you'll have
10:44to budget into your yearly expenses and like, you know, your budget, etc. Okay, so in terms of my
10:51rights as a freelancer, so now that I've worked with a company, and I'm working as a freelancer,
10:57what do they owe me? And what are they not allowed to ask of me? Right. One of the top advice that
11:05all the consultants we've spoken with give is get a contract in place. Okay, don't just go with like,
11:12hey, I have this project, do you want to work with me? Sure. Of course, yeah, just spontaneously.
11:16Yeah, exactly. And nothing in writing. So you should have a contract in place, which is why
11:21once you have a permit, even the person hiring your services knows that you're serious about it.
11:26And you've covered your like, you know, basis properly. So once you have that in place, you can
11:31say I'm like, you know, legally working as a freelancer, what's the contract? What are the like,
11:36you know, deadlines that I have to meet? What is the payment? What are the what is the payment?
11:40Like, you know, terms? At which stage of the project? Will I get paid? How much? So once you
11:46have that approach, I think you'll also be starting off from a place where you're protecting your
11:52rights from the very beginning. So when it comes to rights, there are so many different aspects to
11:57the legal side of it. Like, can my client asked me to not work for someone else? For example,
12:02exactly. I think that's a major question. A lot of people think, oh, but what if I am a freelancer,
12:07but my employer, like my initial freelance gig tells me I can't work for anyone else.
12:13Yeah. So I'm like hiring you to make my website, you can't make anybody else's website.
12:17Is that fair? Yeah. So the non compete clause is an actual legal kind of like, you know,
12:25clause, which has its own parameters that are applied. So when can you apply the non compete
12:30clause? And can they ask you to not go to any other client depends on what kind of work you're
12:36doing? Do you have industry secrets because of the work that like, they're giving you access to
12:40information that's going to be of value to their competitor. So like, you know, and even if there
12:46is a violation, like, you know, where you're caught a conflict of interest, the application
12:51is also very, very specific. It's a very technically, legally, very technical kind of
12:56an aspect. But it's always, always advisable to speak to experts, call Morey. Okay, call them,
13:03they've got a free, like, you know, service, which provides legal advice. So you're speaking
13:09directly to the ministry. We've got the number on here, I can I can actually look it up very quickly.
13:14Yeah. But Morey's got a free legal advice call center for people, free zones will tell you like,
13:19you know, what are your rights, etc. Yeah. So always try to get that in place first,
13:25before you rush into a project, because I think you're also very, like, desperate for work,
13:29and you really want to get the ball rolling. And you kind of avoid pushing these things,
13:34which might make it like, you know, take longer to start the project or to get paid.
13:39But it's really important to have all the paperwork in place and do it as professionally
13:44as you can, so that you can also kind of protect your own rights. So what you're trying to say
13:49is basically, you can dispute certain things with like through Morey, obviously, and by referring
13:57back to the law, if your employer is asking too much of you, like, let's say I'm a graphic
14:02designer, but I get another freelance gig as a copywriter, they have nothing to do with each
14:07other. So in technically, my company cannot tell me that I can't do that other freelance job,
14:13right. But what if like, they decide to say, well, this is our deal. And this is what you have to
14:18deal with, can I actually raise a complaint, we have the whole non complete clause aspect for
14:24freelancers, where they can ask you, but only in very specific kind of, like, you know, requirements
14:32where they're giving you access to really, really important information that they're working on,
14:36like future projects that might jeopardize their profits in the future, because another competitor
14:41might come up with something quicker. Yeah, and kind of derail their work. That's the specific
14:46example we got from one of the legal experts where they're like, your company should be able to prove
14:52that they've suffered some major financial loss because of the worker kind of going to another
14:58company and doing the same work for them. Yeah. So arbitrarily applying the non complete clause
15:05is not encouraged. It's not even part, it's not even allowed, like the law doesn't allow it.
15:10It literally says your non complete clause should be for the next certain years, say exactly how
15:16much, how long this clause will be applicable in which region. So you can, you actually have to say
15:23you cannot work for another company in which region. So you can, you actually have to say you
15:28cannot work for another company, like, you know, in this industry in the UAE. So it has to also be
15:34region specific, it has to be time specific. Wow. Yeah, I didn't know that. Exactly. So the non
15:39complete clause is really technical. And especially for freelancers, because the skill that they're,
15:45they've got is their main like, you know, bread and butter. Yeah, they have to be very clear about
15:50this that like, you know, can I be fairly asked not to work for another client. So it's highly
15:54unlikely that they would actually like, you know, push a freelancer to avoid another gig. You were
16:01saying it, it's very technical. It's very specific. It's, it's highly unlikely to happen to the day
16:07to day freelance. Yeah. So if you if you literally like, you know, helping an events company kind of
16:12set up their sound system, you can't possibly. And I'm a copywriter. I mean, there's no conflict
16:19there. Okay, cool. So another question, I think that also falls under that. But I think we'll
16:26also tie into the part time topic that we'll discuss throughout. But do I need an NOC?
16:33If it's your side gig? Okay, if I'm doing it part time. But if I'm a freelancer,
16:38I don't need NOCs from anyone. You might still if you're going to a free zone,
16:42they might ask you that you're you know, how we spoke about sorry, the work permit and the
16:47residency status. So if you've got a sponsored visa, so your parent is sponsoring your visa,
16:52your spouse is sponsoring your visa, they might ask you for an NOC from your parent, or the free
16:57zone might have a requirement that need an NOC from your sponsor, visa sponsor to issue a work
17:03permit. Okay. When it comes to you working full time with a company in the UAE that's sponsoring
17:10your visa, then you can actually be asked to provide an NOC from the free zone. This is really
17:17important. The ministry has said the Ministry of Human Resources has said, you don't need approval
17:22from your current employer to work part time. If I'm a full timer, yes. Well, okay, you have a
17:31full time job. Okay. And you also want to work part time, what you do need to do is apply for a
17:36part time work permit with Mori. But when they were promoting the service, they actually said,
17:42you don't need approval from your employer to work part time, but you do need to apply
17:47for a work permit to work part time legally in the UAE. I'm mind blown. Like I'm speechless. I
17:55just don't know what to say. Because I, I always thought that you had to get the permission from
18:00your employer. And I thought that that was always the issue. But what if my employer says no? Can
18:06they legally say no? Like, let's say it, as you said, I am, you know, a copywriter, and I want to
18:13do event management or whatever, or help out with events. I mean, away from the non compete, you
18:19know, clause that they put, would they? According to Mori, they don't have, you don't have to even
18:26ask them for permission, they don't have any right to ask you to not work part time, which is
18:32literally, I did a double take when I saw that post from Mori. I'm like, okay, that's a huge story for
18:36us. Because a lot of people advise people to get, like, you know, just a clearance from your employer
18:44to make sure you don't have any issues or any misunderstandings. Of course, always be on good
18:49terms with your employer, even if you're working on the side, let them know have an NOC best
18:53practice kind of a suggestion, right. But when it comes to the legality of it, Mori has clearly
18:58unequivocally stated, you don't need permission from your employer to work part time.
19:05Like, I'm just I can't, I can't even like I that is news to me. And I don't think I've ever heard
19:10it. Yeah. And, and it's great that the ministry is backing that up. Before we talk about benefits
19:16of freelancers, let me just raise a challenge that you might have. Sure. How will I get paid?
19:22Right? Oh, yes. And one great suggestion given to us by one of the consultants we interviewed was,
19:29instead of getting a freelance permit, see if you can actually start a company
19:34as a sole owner, sole proprietorship. Because what that does is if you're working Maria Butros as
19:40somebody who's a freelancer, you're working under your birth name. Okay. So your rights are as an
19:46individual. Okay. Can you open a bank account? If you're not getting like a monthly salary of 5000
19:53or 2000, which are whatever is the requirement for the bank? It'll be tricky. Tricky. Yes. But
19:59if you are Maria Butros sole proprietorship, so now it's a legal entity, it's a company.
20:05What that does is it allows you to actually start a corporate account a lot more easily.
20:10So having a company under your name, you don't have to hire people from that company. It's
20:16not even going to cost you a lot more than it would have to get a freelance permit. Okay. But
20:21starting a company as a freelancer, a sole proprietorship is a great option for bank account,
20:29setting up a bank account, getting your banking things in place. So just something that I really
20:34want to put in there in the mind of someone who is genuinely looking to seriously start as a
20:39freelancer. Think of starting a sole proprietorship. That is the advice that was given to us by one of
20:44the business consultants that we interviewed. And he said that there are a lot of limitations
20:49that come in into place when you're working as a freelancer. Okay, which are kind of covered if
20:55you're a company. Again, a great example they gave is, let's say you're a photographer. Okay,
21:00you do wedding photography, right? Your best friend's getting married, they can't hire you
21:04as a freelancer, because freelancers can be hired only by companies. So you need to get
21:12Oh my goodness, that makes sense. Like you're you're doing it on your own. It's the same thing,
21:18but you just have a company. You can get hired by individuals, including your best friend for
21:22their wedding, and companies and companies. So you get the best of both worlds. B2B and B2C both open
21:28up for you. That is interesting. That kind of really helps you get more clients. It might cost
21:35a little more over time, but it really increases your options. So it costs more because of the
21:40license or what? Like what is the cost? Instead of the work permit, you're applying for the
21:44business license. Okay, gotcha. It can be slightly more where you could have gotten
21:51one of the cheapest business, sorry, freelance permits is for 630 dirhams, if I remember
21:55correctly. Okay, that's actually not so bad, which is really, really low. It was actually
21:59something that was promoted by Abu Dhabi as something that like, you know, you know what,
22:03we want to push people to kind of explore their creative skills. Very low. The average freelance
22:08permit won't be that low, but that is an option available. Right. It's definitely going to be more
22:13costly to set up a sole proprietorship. Yeah. But even compared to other licenses, it's cheaper.
22:20And when it comes to payment, you can start a corporate bank account. Okay. It's easier to set
22:24up a bank account, like, you know, from that perspective. If you're not doing that, it's not
22:29like really, really difficult to kind of get paid either, because what I've seen is a lot of UAE
22:35banks have started opening up options for online wallets that you can use as a freelancer as well.
22:41Right. But get that as well, like, you know, do your research for what works for you. Do you want
22:44to use PayPal? Or do you want to use like, you know, something else? Like, you want to use a local
22:49bank, because it does give a lot more credibility to you. If you've got like an account with like,
22:55you know, a local bank, that's like, you know, operating. So you've got online wallets that you
23:00can use to kind of get the payment in place. But have that contract in place, please. Because
23:05that contract will say that by May, you should be getting paid X amount of money and stuff. So that
23:10helps. People need to like safeguard their rights and you know, like what they're owed, basically.
23:17So I truly believe that that's the best piece of advice for a lot of freelancers. A lot of
23:22freelancers think it's not contractual. That's the thing. And they seldom remember to ask whoever's
23:30employing them or whoever's hiring them for a written form of what they're going to be getting.
23:36So I think that's an important takeaway. For me, the big thing was think about getting a like,
23:42you know, a sole proprietorship license, instead of a freelance permit, because that gives you some
23:49perks. And the fact that if you want to work part time, go ahead, do it. You don't need to
23:54ask your employer, but do apply for the permits that are required. So do your research. And just
24:00kind of like, you know, write to us if you have any questions. We ask either the ministry or the
24:05free zones or consultants to get you just exactly what you need to know that's reliable information
24:12for you to kind of make the decision. Okay, so Huda said it. And this is exactly what I wanted
24:17to end with. If you guys have any questions, Huda is here. She's ready to answer all these questions,
24:22because obviously, you go back to the officials, you go back to the authorities, you ask them the
24:27questions, and then you come back to us with the answers. So please feel free to get in touch with
24:32us either via social media or through the website. Write to us at readers at gulfnews.com. That's our
24:38email, like, you know, for anything, if you want to reach the newsroom, readers at gulfnews.com.
24:42We've got Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok. Amazing. Readers at gulfnews.com. Huda, thank you
24:49so much. It's been a pleasure. Again, if you guys have any questions, please feel free to reach out.
24:54And we'll catch you guys next time.