Director General of Government Talents at the Department of Government Empowerment – Abu Dhabi, Maryam Mohammed Al-Musharrekh, confirmed that Human Resources Law No. (8) of 2025 for the Abu Dhabi government constitutes a qualitative step towards building a more flexible, efficient and sustainable government work environment, based on merit and achievement, and places the employee at the heart of the development process, explaining that the law reflects a future vision that supports the career path of employees by providing clear paths for promotion and career development, and linking advancement opportunities and incentives to performance and competence rather than seniority. Only, what enhances the culture of excellence and innovation.
She explained that “the law introduced extensive updates that support work-life balance through a comprehensive leave system that includes 15 types of leave and qualitative updates to family leave, and the annexes include examples, such as the introduction of structured leave for entrepreneurship, improvements in maternity and paternity leave (including doubling paternity leave and expanding parental support), flexibility in maternity leave arrangements and increasing them in the event of multiple births, and updates to leaves such as marriage, mourning, and flexibility to care for family members. The law also promotes flexible work patterns.” And remote work options, which allows employees to better organize their time, and achieves a sustainable balance that reflects positively on family stability and the employee’s quality of life.”
She stated that the law establishes the concepts of quality of life and balance between work and family life through flexible work patterns, remote work options, and modernizing the leave system, in addition to investing in continuous learning and professional qualification to keep pace with digital transformations and artificial intelligence technologies, stressing that the law establishes a modern government system that attracts and maintains competencies, and provides a supportive work environment that enables the employee to achieve his professional ambition, job stability, and personal well-being at the same time.
Maryam Al Musharrakh said, in an interview with Emirates Today, that the issuance of the new Human Resources Law came in response to the need of the Abu Dhabi government to modernize the government human resources system to keep pace with the rapid transformations in work environments, and to establish a new phase of government employment based on merit, performance, and readiness for the future. The law addresses the need to move from relying on seniority as a basic criterion to a model that honors results and achievement, and ensures that employment opportunities, promotions, and rewards are linked to actual competence, and also aims to enhance the position of the government. Abu Dhabi is considered a preferred employer by providing competitive advantages, attracting and retaining talent, and providing clear career paths that enable outstanding performers to advance faster. In addition, the law reflects the government’s interest in the well-being of employees by modernizing leave systems, enhancing work flexibility and remote work options, in a way that supports quality of life and balance between work, family and social life.
She added: “The law is consistent with Abu Dhabi’s vision for smart government, as it enhances the attraction of specialized expertise in future fields such as artificial intelligence, technology, policies, and specialized services, which supports the readiness of government agencies to accelerate transformation and development of services. It also consolidates investment in people through comprehensive learning and development programs and continuous professional rehabilitation, to ensure that employees possess the future skills necessary to adopt new technologies and use artificial intelligence tools efficiently. The law confirms that this system represents a basic pillar within Abu Dhabi’s vision of shifting towards a government that relies entirely on artificial intelligence by 2027, while maintaining “The human being should be at the heart of transformation through empowerment, development, and raising productivity.”
She added: “The law addresses a set of practical challenges, most notably the competition to attract talent in light of the multiplicity of options for exceptional talents, which requires the government sector to offer benefits and attractive career paths that are equivalent to what the private sector offers. The law also faces the challenge of the need to raise the level of performance and productivity by establishing a culture of rewarding achievement instead of relying on length of service only, in a way that ensures the motivation and retention of distinguished employees. In addition, the law focuses on the challenge of keeping pace with technical transformations through continuous learning and professional rehabilitation, which makes Government human resources are able to work in changing digital environments, and also address the challenge of balancing work requirements, family needs, and quality of life through flexible work patterns, remote work options, and extensive leave updates.”
She continued: “The new law translates the principle of merit into practice in recruitment and promotions by making efficiency and results the basis for employment decisions, career progression and promotions, so that opportunities for advancement are built on performance and achievement and not seniority alone. The law supports clear career paths based on competency, and gives those with outstanding performers opportunities to advance faster through mechanisms such as accelerated exceptional promotions for the distinguished. The new system also enhances the culture of appreciation through performance-based allowances and incentives, which transforms merit from a theoretical principle into practical tools linking what an employee accomplishes and what he gets.” Opportunities and appreciation.” Al-Musharrekh stressed that the law guarantees justice and transparency in evaluating employees, as ensuring justice and transparency is based on transforming the evaluation system into a system of clear results and standards, so that performance and achievement become the primary reference in decisions related to rewards, promotions, and career paths. Also, adopting “merit” as a governing principle means that opportunities are provided according to indicators related to competence, not personal or time considerations, which enhances equal opportunities and reduces unjustified disparity.
Promotions
Al-Musharkh stressed that the new system will contribute to the speed of promotions compared to the previous system, as it provides faster paths to promotion for outstanding performers, compared to the traditional approach that may be more linked to specific periods of service. The law gives flexibility for exceptional promotions, and aims to remove obstacles to the professional growth of distinguished people, so that the employee is able to advance more quickly when he proves his competence through tangible results. This is also reflected in linking incentives and allowances to performance, which supports the culture of “progress by achievement,” and enhances motivation and innovation within entities. Governmental.
She explained that the law will deal with employees with average or poor performance, as it moves towards establishing a culture of performance improvement by linking the career path to development programs, continuous learning and vocational rehabilitation, allowing employees to be supported to raise their readiness and skills, and the system’s focus on results means that the employee will receive development opportunities that suit his needs, which will help him fill the gaps and raise his level.
Attracting talented people
Al-Musharrekh pointed out that the law provided a package of benefits to attract talent, making the Abu Dhabi government more competitive as an employer, most notably: consolidating the merit system, which allows for faster career advancement for the distinguished, and providing performance-based allowances and incentives, in addition to clearer career paths that reflect investment in employee development. The law also enhances the flexibility of the work environment through flexible work patterns and remote work options, in addition to a broad update on leaves within a framework that includes 15 types of leave to support quality of life and family stability, explaining that Together, these elements enhance the government’s attractiveness to attract and retain talent, especially for those who are looking for an environment that values results and provides a better balance between life and work.
She said: “The law enhances the ability of government agencies to attract experts and consultants in vital and advanced fields such as artificial intelligence, technology, policies, and specialized services, which means there is a clear direction to support the recruitment of future specializations, and the benefits associated with performance, faster promotions, and results-based incentives form an attractive framework for rare expertise that expects paths of progress based on achievement.”
Professional development
Al-Musharrekh explained, “The philosophy of the new law is based on establishing a culture of efficiency and results in the various human resources tracks, making professional development part of the performance system and not a separate track. The annexes confirm that career tracks, career advancement, and rewards are linked to performance, and it is natural within this framework that development and learning opportunities are directed towards supporting employees to achieve higher results and develop their future skills. Promoting faster promotions for the distinguished, and providing performance-based allowances, confirms that the system rewards achievement and invests in those with high potential.” She stressed. The law aims to stimulate leadership building in the government system through a system of policies that support professional development, continuous learning, and clear paths for career advancement. Promoting opportunities for faster promotion for distinguished people and linking progress to results provides an environment that helps the emergence of young leaders who prove their competence early. In addition, integrating opportunities for professional development and continuing education establishes a culture of innovation and excellence, and prepares “the leaders of tomorrow.”
artificial intelligence
Al-Musharrekh said: “The new law emphasizes the importance of preparing employees by investing in comprehensive learning and development programs, and providing continuous opportunities for professional rehabilitation to ensure that they keep pace with changing work requirements in the era of technology. This means that digital transformation will not be left as an individual effort, but rather will be supported by policies and practices that consolidate continuous learning as part of the career path, while attracting specialized expertise that supports the transfer of knowledge and development of capabilities within government agencies. The law also works as an enabling framework to ensure that human resources possess the professional skills and behaviors that allow the adoption of artificial intelligence tools, and the improvement of services and operational processes.”
People of determination
Al-Musharrekh pointed out that “the law supports people of determination by emphasizing building a comprehensive work environment in which opportunities are available to everyone on the basis of merit, while providing appropriate work arrangements and requirements that ensure their integration and empowerment within government agencies. The law also guarantees the presence of work arrangements specifically designed to ensure full inclusion, which means that support is not limited to a general principle, but rather extends to creating the practical environment according to need, and this comes within a broader approach that enhances diversity and inclusion, and ensures that the modern human resources system takes into account the needs of different groups.” Employees, which reflects the government’s commitment to the concept of equal opportunities and quality of life.”
Al-Musharrekh said, “The law ensures that competency standards do not turn into high professional pressures on employees, through a clear balance between raising performance and supporting the employee’s quality of life, as its focus on merit and performance is paralleled by promoting flexible work patterns, remote work options, and modernizing the leave system, which creates an environment more supportive of family and psychological stability. Investing in learning, development, and vocational rehabilitation helps transform competency requirements into (an empowerment path), instead of becoming unsupported pressures, because the employee gets tools and opportunities to develop himself and keep pace with changes.” The law also confirms that the human being remains at the heart of transformation, which means that the approach is not limited to raising indicators, but rather includes the employee’s well-being and the sustainability of his performance. In addition, the general principles of the law confirm the adoption of a system based on equal opportunities, merit, and the linking of professional decisions to performance standards, which requires the existence of governance and grievance paths to ensure justice.
Quality of government services
Director General of Government Talent at the Department of Government Empowerment – Abu Dhabi, Maryam Mohammed Al Musharrekh, confirmed that the new human resources law of the Abu Dhabi government is expected to raise the efficiency of the government sector by building a high-performance workforce, rewarded according to results and attracted according to efficiency, which enhances productivity and stimulates innovation within entities. Linking promotions and incentives to performance pushes employees towards achieving tangible results, while faster paths allow distinguished people to enhance the benefit of exceptional energies and accelerate their progress, as well as investing in continuous learning and rehabilitation. Professionalism increases institutional readiness to deal with technological transformations, and enhances the ability to develop operational processes. In addition, flexibility in work patterns and family-supportive leaves contribute to job stability and employee well-being, which reflects positively on the sustainability of performance and effectiveness of government institutions.
She said: “The law’s reflection on the quality of services is linked to a clear logic: when the system is built on merit, performance and continuous development, the ability of government agencies to provide more efficient and innovative services and respond to the needs of society improves. Enhancing the efficiency of employees and attracting advanced specializations, especially in the fields of technology and artificial intelligence, supports the development of services and operational processes, and raises the level of government experience. Raising productivity within government agencies and improving the well-being of employees and their quality of life contributes to improving daily performance and reduces job stress factors, which is reflected in the quality of service.” The introduction and attachments confirm that the law is part of a comprehensive modernization process. When employees flourish, services flourish and society flourishes, which directly demonstrates the expected impact on service recipients.
Maryam Musharrekh:
• The new law enhances the balance between work and family life.
• Updates on marriage, mourning and family member care leave.
• Promote flexible work patterns and remote work options.
