Dubai’s booming economy has created numerous opportunities for businesses, skilled professionals and workers in terms of employment in the region. Similarly, the need for recruitment agencies has risen sharply due to human resources demand in various sectors of business and industry in & around Dubai. The consistent demand for immigrant workers in Dubai, including highly-skilled professionals from has led to the need for companies to set up a recruiting agency which feeds the demand for immigrant workers.
Due to the steady growth of business sectors such as engineering, construction, oil & gas, retail and manufacturing the newly opened businesses including industries, multi-national companies, and start-ups are looking to forward towards recruitment agencies to hire qualified employees for their companies registered in UAE. Furthermore, the Ministry of Human Resources has accelerated the process to regulate the hiring by authorized recruitment agencies by issuing MR1283 in 2011, enabling proper licensing by regulation to the operation of private recruitment companies.
These measures from the government ministries encourage business leaders to set up private recruitment consultancies by acquiring proper recruitment licensing which authorizes them to provide general and specialized hiring services based on industries and business sectors such as construction, manufacturing and others. Moreover, these licensed business activities in Dubai reduce significant difficulties faced by the companies due to employee shortage. On the other hand, the regulations are precise and structured so that the individuals coming to UAE for employment are made sure that they are not facing any harassment and prevent human rights violations of foreign labour in the hands of unauthorized agencies.
Guide to Starting a Recruiting Consultancy with Licensing in Dubai
By starting a recruitment agency, you can hire workers, skilled labourers, and highly-skilled professionals for the companies that might require talent or workforce in industries, sites or projects. Before setting up an agency, you need to obtain a recruitment consultancy license to legally offer hiring services for companies in Dubai. However, you need to understand that recruitment agency is a competitive business sector with the business required to obtain a handful of licenses including recruitment consultancy license, permits from Ministry of Labour and approvals from other concerned government authorities and agencies.
Step 1:
Choose an entity for starting your recruitment/employment agency in Dubai. The country offers different types of legal-business entities from which you can choose the model which fits the best for your business. Currently, there are two options for the recruitment/employment agency to register your business as a company in the UAE.
- Mainland Company in Dubai
- Joint Venture (JV)
- Limited Liability Company (LLC)
- Sole Proprietorship
- Private Shareholding Company
- Professional Company
- Dubai Free Zones
Click here to see the list of Free Zones in Dubai.
However, inside these two business setup options in Dubai, you have most of the standard legal-business structure available. Starting the business in one of the two zones contain their advantages and limitations. If you have trouble selecting the right location for setting up your company, contact us. We can guide you by helping you choose the best possible option based on your business goals.
Step 2:
Understand the requirements according to the type of business entity. Usually, to operate in Mainland or free zone, there are different requirements that you have to satisfy in order to start your operation.
Step 3:
Obtain the recruitment consultancy license from the government authorities which authorizes your operations. In addition to this, you might need to acquire permits and approvals from the governmental agencies to authorize you on several parameters such as legality, visa, human rights, labour protection and others.
Types of Recruitment Agency
These are the two types of recruitment consulting licenses available in Dubai. These licenses authorize your company to perform hiring of highly-trained employees, talent, semi-skilled workers and unskilled workers by screening, background checks and select them based on the client requirements.
- Brokerage License
The brokerage license authorizes your business to operate by exchanging contractual employment-related services and act as a mediator between employers & employees in UAE, including Dubai.
Activities Permitted
- Receive and process employment applications from candidates from inside or outside UAE
- Take in “employee needed” requests from companies operating in UAE to hire personnel from in or outside UAE
- Establish and maintain a database for jobs available according to industries while posting new jobs listing as they are received from companies
- Temporary Recruitment License
The temporary recruitment license authorizes the employment agency to shortlist, interview, hire and place the employees at the required places according to the company’s requirements. In the case of this license, the employment agency is allowed to hire employees and outsource them based on the requirements.
Documents Required for Obtaining a Recruitment Consultancy License
- Copy of Passport of the shareholders
- Copy of the ID card of the local partner/owner
- Copy of the Family book of shareholders if UAE nationals
- Copy of the trade name booking for the new trade license
- Certificate of Good Conduct
- Blueprints of the business setup location
- Memorandum of Association (MOA) of the owner along with the shareholders
Essentially, the recruitment consultancy is different from the manpower license as the recruitment consultancy license allows you to start an agency that is authorized to hiring professionals, skilled workers and other manpower by processes in UAE or working along with partners across the world. You can start the business operations by registering your company in Dubai as a first-step.
Even though the process of business registration in Dubai is streamlined as a new business owner, it might take a while before you can figure out the exact procedures and types of permits, approvals you need to acquire as a recruitment consultancy in Dubai. You can contact us to know the steps to start a successful employment agency within a short period of time by helping you find the right business type, connecting you with prospective partners, registering your business and assisting you throughout the way in obtaining licenses and approvals.
Finally, you need to understand that unless the stringent requirements for starting the recruitment consultancy agency are met for the licensing, it is challenging to commence operations as it is considered illegal by the government. The governmental agencies actively respond to unlawful, unauthorized hiring of foreign workers by taking strict action on the agency as the business operations involve recruitment, training and dispatch of human resources to industries, business and projects.
