The India Employee Benefits Stack for UAE companies

What changes when you come from the United Arab Emirates

What you call it in the United Arab Emirates, and what it is called in India

A UAE employer works with two firm legal duties: insure every private-sector employee's health, and pay an end-of-service gratuity of 21 days' basic salary per year once an employee completes one year. India reverses both. Group health cover is voluntary in law, though candidates hired at ₹8 LPA and above expect it, and statutory gratuity is 15 days' last drawn salary per year, payable only after five continuous years. Add a provident fund that foreign staff must join from day one, and you have most of the first-year questions a Dubai or Abu Dhabi HR team asks.

This edition maps each UAE benefit to its Indian counterpart, then lists the assumptions UAE parents most often carry into India. It also covers secondees. Staff sent from Dubai or Abu Dhabi are often not Emirati, and nationality decides how each one is treated in Indian payroll: a foreign national is an International Worker under EPF from the first payroll, while an Indian national returning home is not.

What UAE companies get wrong when they set up in India

None of these is a knowledge gap. Each is a reflex from home, applied to a country that works differently.

1. 01

   What they assume: Health insurance is mandatory in India too, as in every emirate.

   What India doesOnly employees earning up to ₹21,000 a month have statutory cover, through ESI. Above that line the employer's statutory health obligation is zero. Group Health Insurance is voluntary in law, but candidates hired at ₹8 LPA and above expect it.

2. 02

   What they assume: Gratuity accrues from year one, so a three-year leaver gets paid.

   What India doesIndian statutory gratuity is payable only after five continuous years of service (one year for fixed-term employees). It is 15 days' last drawn salary per year against 21 days' basic in the UAE, capped at ₹20 lakh. Permanent staff who leave sooner receive nothing unless the contract promises more.

3. 03

   What they assume: There is no income tax, so pay can be quoted net.

   What India doesIndia taxes salaries, and the employer deducts tax at source every month. Offers drafted as tax-free UAE figures need rebuilding as gross cost to company. Employer GHI premiums are deductible under Section 36(1)(ib) and are not a taxable perquisite under Section 17(2).

4. 04

   What they assume: Expatriates don't pay into a pension, so foreign staff are exempt.

   What India doesIn the UAE only nationals join GPSSA. In India, foreign nationals are International Workers: they join EPF from day one on full salary, with no ₹15,000 ceiling. With no India–UAE social security agreement there is no exemption, and withdrawal is generally possible only at 58 or on permanent incapacity.

5. 05

   What they assume: Gratuity runs on basic salary, so keep basic low.

   What India doesSince 21 November 2025, if allowances excluded from wages exceed 50% of total remuneration, the excess is added back into wages for EPF, gratuity and other statutory calculations. A UAE-style package with a small basic and large housing and transport allowances no longer lowers the Indian statutory bill.

6. 06

   What they assume: Sixty days' maternity leave is the standard to budget for.

   What India doesThe Maternity Benefit Act gives 26 weeks of full pay for the first two children and 12 weeks from the third, paid by the employer (ESI covers it for ESI members). A crèche is required at 50+ employees. There is no statutory paternity leave, unlike the UAE's five days of parental leave.

7. 07

   What they assume: A basic plan for the employee alone is enough.

   What India doesIn India, family cover is what candidates compare. Parents are the largest claims category by relationship, about 40% of claims in Plum's data, and global startups in India carry a ₹10,00,000 sum insured against an India median of ₹5,00,000.

8. 08

   What they assume: Our UAE regional medical plan can cover the India team.

   What India doesA regional plan usually reimburses after the event. An India-admitted Group Health Insurance policy gives cashless treatment at network hospitals, and its premium is deductible under Section 36(1)(ib). Most insurers write it from a minimum group of 7, and 18% GST applies.

The United Arab Emirates vs India, benefit by benefit

Benefit	United Arab Emirates	India
Statutory health cover	Mandatory employer-paid health insurance for private-sector employees in every emirate since 1 January 2025.	ESI for employees earning up to ₹21,000 a month. Nothing above that line.
Cost of the minimum	Basic package from AED 320 a year per employee.	ESI: 3.25% employer and 0.75% employee on wages. Above the ceiling, Group Health Insurance is voluntary.
Retirement savings	GPSSA pension for UAE nationals only. Expatriates have no pension scheme.	EPF for every employee in establishments with 20+ staff: 12% employer plus 12% employee on basic plus DA.
Foreign staff	Excluded from GPSSA; covered by end-of-service gratuity instead.	International Workers: EPF from day one on full salary, with no ₹15,000 ceiling.
End-of-service lump sum	21 days' basic per year for five years, 30 days after; from one year of service; capped at two years' wage.	Gratuity: 15 days' last drawn salary per year after five years, capped at ₹20 lakh.
Free zones	DIFC replaces gratuity with DEWS: 5.83% of basic monthly, 8.33% after five years.	One national regime; only leave and public holidays vary by state.
Unemployment insurance	ILOE, compulsory since 2023 and paid by the employee: AED 5 or AED 10 a month.	None.
Maternity	60 days: 45 on full pay, 15 on half pay.	26 weeks of full pay for the first two children, paid by the employer.
Paternity	Five working days of paid parental leave for either parent.	No statutory paternity leave under central law.
Annual leave	30 days a year after one year of service.	Earned leave of 12 to 18 days plus casual and sick leave, set by state law.
Income tax on salary	None on employment income.	Salaries are taxed, and the employer deducts tax at source every month.

What MNCs and GCCs offer their teams in India

From The Standard of Employee Benefits 2026–27, Plum's report on 15,312 benefit plans, 5,20,100 claims and 74,543 checkups from Plum's FY26 book.

• 1.6×MNC and GCC benefits spend per employee in India, against a funded Indian startup (nearly 3× a local Indian business).
• 43%of MNCs and GCCs in India are Holistic Leaders: deep insurance plus real breadth of healthcare beside it.
• ₹7,50,000median MNC/GCC sum insured, covering parents or in-laws, with ₹1,00,000 maternity cover and no copays or sub-limits.
• ~2%of payroll buys India's top-quartile plan, against roughly 15% in the US, 10–25% across Europe and 8–15% across APAC.

India's top-quartile plan against the UAE

India's top-quartile plan is the only one of the seven that includes parents, and treatments cost 60–90% less than in the US, Europe or Australia. Source: The Standard of Employee Benefits 2026–27, "Health benefits in India offer the best coverage for the investment".

What headquarters is used to

In the UAE, health cover is a legal duty that falls on the employer, and most of the workforce is expatriate. That is the baseline a UAE headquarters brings to India, where statutory health cover stops at ₹21,000 a month.

• 88%of the UAE's population are expatriates, which drives demand for employer health cover
• ≈$88a year per employee for the basic mandatory health plan introduced in 2025
• $818–$2,750+a year per employee for the comprehensive plans many employers upgrade to
• 16.3%diabetes prevalence in the UAE, against 9.3% worldwide

Source: Benefits Beyond Borders 2025, Plum's report on benefits in the economies investing in India (UAE chapter, citing BMJ Public Health, Population Health Metrics, Expatica and market premium data).

Staff seconded from the United Arab Emirates

Staff seconded from the UAE often keep a regional or international medical plan. Add them to an India-admitted GHI anyway: it gives cashless admission at network hospitals without a deposit. There is no India–UAE social security agreement, so a foreign national on Indian payroll joins EPF from day one on full salary and can generally withdraw it only at 58 or on permanent incapacity. An Indian national returning from Dubai is not an International Worker.

Where UAE companies set up in India

Hospital networks, claim costs and state leave rules differ by city. These are the places UAE companies concentrate.

• Mumbai

  Maharashtra

  Indian branches of Emirates NBD, Mashreq and First Abu Dhabi Bank, and DP World's container terminals at Nhava Sheva.

• Gurugram and Delhi

  Haryana and Delhi

  Emaar India is headquartered in Gurugram, and Emirates and Etihad run India offices in the capital region.

• Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram

  Kerala

  Lulu Group's malls and IT office space. Kerala has close family and workforce ties to the UAE.

• Bengaluru

  Karnataka

  Landmark Group runs its Indian retail business, including Lifestyle and Max, from here; Lulu also has a mall in the city.

UAE companies with operations in India include DP World, Emaar, Lulu Group, Landmark Group, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Emirates NBD, Mashreq, First Abu Dhabi Bank.

Everything else applies to every foreign employer

Statutory benefits, group insurance, tax, leave and CTC work the same whichever country you come from. Each part is covered in full in the India guide.

1. Part 1 – Employee BenefitsWhat employee benefits are legally mandatory in India?These are not optional.
2. Part 2 – Group Health InsuranceGroup health insurance for MNCs in IndiaNone of these are legally required.
3. Part 3 – Business Insurance (Non-EB)What business insurance does a new India entity need?This stack is separate from EB and is often the one India-entry teams leave until last.
4. Part 4 – Beyond InsuranceThe benefits your team will actually noticeInsurance is the foundation, not the programme.
5. Part 5 – Setup StageIn what order should a new India entity buy insurance?The most expensive insurance mistake isn't buying the wrong policy.
6. Part 6 – Sector NotesWhat your sector adds to the universal stackThe policies in Parts 1–3 apply to every MNC.
7. Part 7 – City GuideHow do employee benefit benchmarks differ across Indian cities?The same ₹5L GHI plan means different things in different cities.
8. Part 8 – ChecklistThe pre-operations checklistBefore your India entity goes live, each item below should have a policy number, a renewal date, and a named contact.
9. Part 9 – Tax GuideIs group health insurance taxable for employees in India?India runs two parallel income tax regimes simultaneously, and the tax treatment of almost every benefit differs between them.
10. Part 10 – Leave & PoliciesLeave entitlements and what global MNCs typically add on topIndia's statutory leave framework is state-governed and more fragmented than most MNCs expect.
11. Part 11 – Allowances & CTCHow should an MNC structure India CTC under the new labour codes?India's cost-to-company (CTC) structure is more complex than most countries your payroll team has operated in.

Questions UAE HR teams ask about India

More from Plum for UAE companies in India

• How MNCs structure health insurance for Indian subsidiariesGlobal programmes, local policies and who signs what.
• Do you need to match headquarters' benefits in India?Where to mirror the parent plan, and where India needs its own design.
• Insurance for expatriate employees in IndiaCovering seconded staff alongside the local plan.
• Group insurance vs ESI: a guide for employersWho must be in ESI, and where group health insurance takes over.
• How to calculate gratuity in IndiaFormulas, worked examples and a free calculator.
• The Standard of Employee Benefits 2026–27Benchmarks from 4,500+ Indian employee health plans.