Hiring From a Competitor in the UAE: What Is Allowed and How to Do It Well

Short answer: You can hire someone who works for a competitor. What can limit it is that person’s own contract, such as a non-compete clause. On the UAE mainland, the law allows a non-compete only in set conditions and for at most two years after the contract ends. Whatever the contract says, the new hire should bring their skills, not their old employer’s confidential information.

This is general information, not legal advice. Before making an offer to someone with a non-compete clause, speak to a UAE employment lawyer.

When a Non-Compete Clause Is Valid (Mainland UAE)

Article 10 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 and Article 12 of Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022 set these limits:

• It is allowed only where the job gave the employee access to the employer’s clients or business secrets.
• It must state the place, the period and the type of work it covers, no wider than needed to protect the employer’s legitimate interests.
• It cannot last more than two years after the contract ends.
• It does not apply if the employer ended the contract in breach of the law.
• The employer must bring a claim within one year of finding the breach.

Sources: Alsuwaidi & Company and LYLAW, law-firm guides to both texts, checked 4 November 2026.

When It Does Not Apply

Article 12(5) of the Cabinet Resolution releases the employee from the clause where:

• the employee or the new employer pays the former employer up to three months’ wage under the last contract, with the former employer’s written approval;
• the contract ended during probation; or
• the employee works in an occupation the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation has listed as exempt.

In a dispute, the former employer has to prove the damage (Article 12(2)). Sources: Alsuwaidi & Company and LYLAW; the burden of proof point is from LYLAW; checked 4 November 2026.

Free Zones Differ

Article 10 does not apply in the DIFC or the ADGM. Both have their own employment laws, and their courts test whether a restriction is reasonable in time, place and scope (LYLAW, checked 4 November 2026). Check which law covers the candidate’s current contract.

Before You Make the Offer

• Ask early whether their contract has a non-compete or confidentiality clause, and ask them to check it.
• Ask about their experience, not their employer’s clients, prices or files, and never ask them to bring documents. Confidentiality duties are more readily enforced than non-competes and survive on their own (LYLAW, checked 4 November 2026).
• If there is a clause, take legal advice before you sign.

How We Approach People at Named Competitors

You give us the companies you want people from, including your competitors, and we approach accountants working there. We contact each person directly and discreetly, talk about their work and their next move, and never ask for their employer’s confidential information. Our team interviews each candidate, and CA Ketul Patel reviews every shortlisted profile. About 80% of our UAE clients hire people already living in the UAE and the Gulf.

Hiring in India? WhatsApp +91 90162 22107. Prefer a call? Book a call online.

→ See how we hire for companies in the UAE