The UAE’s Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation shut down 230 social media accounts in 2025 for illegally promoting domestic worker recruitment services without licenses or any affiliation to authorized offices, acting in coordination with the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority.
MoHRE announced the crackdown on February 11, 2026, framing the closures as an enforcement step under the Domestic Workers Law in Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022, which mandates recruitment only through licensed offices.
Authorities said the flagged social-media pages advertised recruitment without holding the required licences or authorisation, using online channels that can quickly reach employers and jobseekers and steer them away from regulated hiring.
MoHRE linked the enforcement to consumer protection, fraud prevention and labour governance, warning that informal online recruitment can bypass the checks built into the UAE’s regulated system for domestic work.
The ministry said some of the accounts tried to lure job seekers with exaggerated promises, including offering “the sun and moon,” while encouraging arrangements that sidestep required processes.
MoHRE said the accounts promoted hiring routes that bypassed required medical exams, background checks and contract standards, putting both workers and families at risk and weakening safeguards designed to govern the sector.
Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 sets the legal framework for domestic work in the UAE, and MoHRE said the law requires recruitment to run through licensed offices rather than informal brokers or social media pages.
The ministry’s message was aimed at both sides of the market: families and employers looking for workers, and job seekers looking for placements, especially when ads appear fast and frictionless online.
MoHRE positioned the shutdowns as a signal that enforcement can extend beyond physical premises and into digital spaces, where recruitment ads circulate widely and can be replicated quickly.
MoHRE said the enforcement action addressed recruitment marketing that operated without the licensing and affiliation required to connect workers with authorised recruitment offices.
The law’s penalties vary by conduct, and MoHRE highlighted that the risks are financial and can also involve imprisonment in higher-severity cases.
For providing false information or fake documents to recruit domestic workers, the law provides for fines of Dh20,000 to Dh100,000 ($5,450 to $27,230) and up to 6 months’ imprisonment, MoHRE said.
For recruiting without providing employment, misusing permits, hiring workers under 18, or closing agencies without settling wages, the law provides for fines of Dh50,000 to Dh200,000, MoHRE said.
For employing workers without permits or misusing ministry portal credentials, the law provides for fines of Dh200,000 to Dh1 million and up to 1 year’s imprisonment, MoHRE said.
MoHRE said those fines can multiply by the number of workers affected, with a maximum cap of Dh10 million.
The ministry’s outline of penalties underscored that violations can be treated as more serious when multiple breaches occur, including cases where unlawful recruitment activity overlaps with permit misuse or employment without proper authorisation.
MoHRE tied the penalty warnings to real-world disruption for families and workers, including potential interruption of employment arrangements and exposure to legal consequences when recruitment runs outside the authorised system.
For employers, MoHRE said compliance starts with sourcing domestic workers through licensed recruitment offices and avoiding informal intermediaries, including pages that operate through social media accounts.
The ministry directed employers to use licensed offices listed on MoHRE’s website, warning that using unlicensed channels can jeopardise legal rights.
MoHRE also warned of “family risks from unvetted workers” when recruitment bypasses required checks, linking the issue to the medical exams, background checks and contract standards that the ministry said the illegal pages sought to evade.
The enforcement action also served as a caution to job seekers, who can be drawn into offers that promise quick placement but may leave them without the protections embedded in regulated recruitment.
MoHRE framed the illicit recruitment pitches as part of a pattern in which online recruiters advertise services without the required licences or affiliation, sometimes presenting terms that do not align with regulated procedures.
The ministry encouraged the public to report suspicious domestic-worker recruitment ads and said it receives reports through 600590000.
MoHRE’s announcement did not describe individual account operators or specific cases, but it treated the closures as a broad disruption of unlicensed domestic-worker recruitment activity conducted online.
The shutdowns were not presented as a one-off. MoHRE pointed to earlier actions targeting similar conduct, including closing 77 accounts in July in an unspecified year.
MoHRE also cited action against a recruitment office in Ajman in December 2025, and enforcement against nearly 50 agencies in October 2023.
Taken together, those steps show sustained attention on domestic-worker recruitment and the role of digital advertising, as authorities try to steer recruitment through licensed offices and away from informal channels.
MoHRE said the current crackdown relies on an integrated digital system, and it referenced “potential AI monitoring” as part of the approach to professionalise the sector.
That emphasis on digital systems aligns with how recruitment advertising now spreads, with job offers and placement services promoted through posts, direct messages and pages that can appear credible to employers seeking quick arrangements.
MoHRE’s message to employers was to treat informal online recruitment as high-risk and to verify that any recruitment offer is tied to authorised offices and compliant processing.
The ministry’s guidance also focused on ensuring the recruitment path does not skip the core requirements it highlighted, including medical exams, background checks and contract standards.
MoHRE’s statement linked lawful recruitment not only to how a worker is sourced, but also to the downstream steps that keep an employment relationship within the rules, including proper processing and adherence to required standards.
By focusing on social-media recruitment, MoHRE and TDRA also signaled a regulatory approach that reaches beyond traditional inspections and can respond to advertising that operates in public view and can scale quickly.
The action reflects how recruitment markets have shifted. Domestic worker recruitment now often begins with online outreach, but MoHRE said the legal framework requires recruitment to be conducted through licensed offices.
MoHRE’s reference to exaggerated promises such as “the sun and moon” highlighted the pressure points authorities say can lead people into unregulated arrangements: speed, convenience and claims that paperwork or checks are unnecessary.
MoHRE’s warning about bypassing required exams and checks also served as a reminder that the regulated process is designed to set minimum standards and reduce the risks that can arise when a worker’s placement is arranged informally.
For job seekers, MoHRE’s enforcement message was that recruitment pitches that avoid official steps can leave them exposed, including to placements that do not meet contract standards the ministry described.
For employers, the ministry’s message was that the apparent simplicity of a social-media arrangement can mask legal exposure, including fines and possible imprisonment under the law’s higher-severity provisions.
MoHRE’s enforcement focus also placed responsibility on anyone seeking to recruit or employ domestic workers to ensure the relationship starts through the authorised channel, rather than relying on unlicensed intermediaries.
MoHRE’s announcement did not set out how many people were affected by the closed accounts, but it described a recurring pattern of online advertising for recruitment services without the required licensing or affiliation.
By pairing account shutdowns with reminders of escalating sanctions, MoHRE aimed to deter repeat conduct and to push recruitment activity into the regulated framework where licensed offices operate.
The ministry’s call to use the list of licensed offices on MoHRE’s website sits at the centre of its compliance message, offering a starting point for employers who want to confirm they are dealing with an authorised channel.
MoHRE also urged residents to report suspicious ads through 600590000, reinforcing that enforcement depends in part on information flowing back to regulators when illegal recruitment advertising appears online.
