Why Retained HR Services Are the Smart Choice for UAE Businesses Without Full-Time HR

Running a business in the UAE without a dedicated HR person? You are not alone.

Many small and growing companies simply cannot justify the cost of hiring a full-time HR manager. But that does not mean you can afford to ignore HR altogether.

This is where retained HR services come in, a smart, cost-effective way to get the HR support you need, without the payroll burden of hiring in-house.

What Are Retained HR Services?

Think of it as having an outsourced HR department on standby, your own HR partner who knows your business, is available when you need support, and helps you stay compliant, organised, and ready to grow.

With retained services, you pay a monthly fee to access expert HR support. This could include:

→ HR policy and documentation

→ Recruitment advice and interviewing

→ Employee contracts and onboarding

→ Compliance with UAE labour law

→ Performance and people issues

→ Payroll setup support

→ Day-to-day HR queries

All without hiring a full-time employee.

Why It Makes Sense in the UAE

The UAE market moves fast.

Whether you are a startup, SME, or growing branch of a global company, you need to:

→ Hire the right people quickly

→ Stay compliant with local labour law

→ Avoid costly employee mistakes

→ Build proper HR systems before issues arise

But if you are not ready to hire a full-time HR manager, the risk is that admin piles up, people problems go unmanaged, and hiring becomes guesswork.

Retained HR helps you avoid this. You get the expertise you need, but only pay for what you use.

How It Works

→ Initial HR Audit: We review your current people setup, contracts, documents, and practices.

→ HR Essentials Setup: We create or improve your employment contracts, handbook, offer letters, and compliance framework.

→ Ongoing Support: You get monthly access to your own senior HR partner for queries, templates, and support with any issues that come up.

→ Scaling Support: When you grow, we help you build recruitment systems, onboarding flows, and people processes that scale with you.

You are not left managing HR alone. We are there in the background, as part of your team.

Ideal For

→ Founders wearing too many hats

→ Admin teams handling HR without expertise

→ Companies with 5 to 50 employees

→ Businesses unsure how to navigate UAE labour laws

→ Companies that want HR strategy without full-time cost

Why Choose Retained HR Over Ad-Hoc Consulting?

• Consistency: Your HR partner learns your business and grows with you

• Affordability: Fixed monthly rate is easier to budget

• Responsiveness: Faster support when issues arise

• Trust: No need to re-explain everything to a new consultant each time

  
  

Ready to Get Started?

If your business is not quite ready for full-time HR but needs the support, let us take it off your plate.

At HRnow, we offer retained HR packages tailored to your needs, so you can:

✔ Stay compliant

✔ Hire with confidence

✔ Focus on growth

✔ Avoid people problems

Think it might be something for you?

Let's talk: +971509663035

So you can DO Business NOT HR