What the law says

MoHRE's worker-rights guidance states that discrimination based on race, colour, sex, religion, national or social origin or disability that impairs equal opportunity or treatment is prohibited. It also states that employers are prohibited from discriminating between workers in jobs involving similar tasks, while measures supporting UAE-citizen participation are not treated as discrimination. Read the MoHRE worker-rights guidance (opens in a new tab).

Whether a specific situation amounts to unlawful discrimination depends on facts and applicable law. An observed salary difference alone does not prove its cause.

Compare like with like

To study a possible gap, compare workers with similar:

  • Role and responsibilities
  • Seniority and management scope
  • Relevant experience
  • Performance expectations
  • Employer and location
  • Employment date and market conditions
  • Working hours
  • Basic salary, allowances and variable compensation

Differences may also reflect negotiation, scarcity, relocation packages, language requirements or prior internal pay decisions. Those factors should be measured—not used automatically to explain away every disparity.

Why raw anecdotes are risky

An individual may know that a colleague earns more but not know the entire package, hiring date or negotiated conditions. Conversely, a company-wide average can hide a consistent gap within one role.

Responsible reporting should disclose the cohort definition, sample size, time period and uncertainty. Small demographic groups must be withheld because publication could identify the people involved.

WorkHabibi's approach

WorkHabibi should:

  • Make nationality-group disclosure optional
  • Include “Prefer not to say”
  • Never preselect a demographic answer
  • Keep offers separate from employee salaries
  • Publish only cohorts above a privacy threshold
  • Use bands and medians rather than identifiable figures
  • Avoid declaring discrimination from insufficient data

The goal is not to rank nationalities. It is to test whether comparable work receives comparable treatment.