Table of Contents
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Tawafoq Service Centre and what does it actually do
Tawafoq (توافق) is a UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) initiative that authorises licensed centres to facilitate employment contract attestation, labour dispute mediation, and employer-employee reconciliation services in the private sector.
These centres act as regulated intermediaries between private sector parties and MOHRE. They are not law firms — they are authorised facilitation businesses operating within a clearly defined regulatory scope under Activity Code 6910.96.
The typical client base includes SMEs without in-house HR or PRO capacity, domestic workers, blue-collar employers, and employees seeking contract clarity or dispute resolution support.
What is Activity Code 6910.96 and which regulatory category does it fall under
Activity Code 6910.96 falls under ISIC Division 69 — Legal and Accounting Activities — specifically covering auxiliary legal and labour-related services. It is classified within the Legal and Auxiliary Business Services sector.
The license is issued by the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), but it also carries a mandatory parallel accreditation requirement from MOHRE. Holding a DET trade license alone is not sufficient to operate a Tawafoq centre.
Because the activity is directly tied to MOHRE's regulatory framework, it cannot be operated under a free zone license — mainland Dubai registration is required.
Can a Tawafoq Service Centre be set up in a Dubai free zone
No. A Tawafoq Service Centre must be registered on the mainland under the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET). Free zone licenses do not support MOHRE-linked regulated activities of this nature.
This is because the centre's operations are directly tied to MOHRE's accreditation framework, which requires a physical mainland presence and compliance with operational standards that free zone structures cannot satisfy.
Entrepreneurs considering this business should plan from the outset for a mainland Dubai entity and a registered physical office address.
What are the key steps to get a Tawafoq Service Centre license in Dubai
The licensing process involves both a DET trade license and a separate MOHRE accreditation. The core steps are:
- Step 1: Choose mainland Dubai jurisdiction under DET — visit dubaided.gov.ae for current processes.
- Step 2: Reserve a trade name that reflects the service nature without implying legal practice or adjudication authority.
- Step 3: Apply for initial DET approval, alongside a mandatory MOHRE No Objection Certificate (NOC) for Activity Code 6910.96.
- Step 4: Secure a physical Dubai office — virtual offices will not meet MOHRE's operational standards.
- Step 5: Register the tenancy via Ejari and submit fit-out compliance documents.
- Step 6: Obtain formal MOHRE centre accreditation, which is a separate process from the DET trade license.
Why is a physical office mandatory and will a virtual office work
A registered physical office in Dubai is a hard requirement for a Tawafoq Service Centre. MOHRE's accreditation standards for authorised centres explicitly require an operational premises that can be inspected and verified.
Virtual offices do not satisfy these standards. The centre must be a functioning, accessible location where clients can attend for contract processing, mediation sessions, and document handling.
The tenancy must also be formally registered through Ejari, and fit-out compliance documents must be submitted as part of the licensing process.
What is the revenue model for a Tawafoq Service Centre
The business model is transaction-based: centres charge per-service fees for employment contract processing, attestation, and mediation sessions. There is no dependency on retainer arrangements — volume is the primary revenue driver.
The volume is structurally guaranteed by regulation. Every private sector employment contract requires processing, and labour disputes are an ongoing feature of a market with over 3.5 million registered workers under MOHRE.
Operators can increase revenue per client by bundling Tawafoq services with complementary offerings such as typing centre operations, visa assistance, and document clearing — without significantly increasing overhead.
Who are the primary clients of a Tawafoq Service Centre
The most underserved and commercially significant segment is small employers with one to twenty staff who lack dedicated PRO or HR departments. These businesses cannot justify a full-time compliance function but cannot ignore their MOHRE obligations — a Tawafoq centre fills that gap directly.
Other key client groups include:
- Domestic workers — a high-frequency vertical with recurring contract, renewal, and dispute needs.
- Blue-collar employers in construction, hospitality, and retail sectors.
- Employees seeking contract clarity, attestation support, or dispute resolution assistance.
The domestic worker sector in particular offers consistent repeat business due to the regulated and recurring nature of contracts and renewals in that vertical.
What is MOHRE's role and why is its accreditation separate from the DET trade license
The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) is the primary regulatory authority for all private sector labour matters in the UAE, overseeing more than 3.5 million registered workers.
MOHRE accreditation is separate from the DET trade license because the two bodies serve different regulatory functions. DET issues the commercial license permitting the business to operate; MOHRE grants the specific authorisation to act as an intermediary within its labour compliance and dispute resolution framework.
Both approvals are mandatory. Operating with only a DET license — without MOHRE accreditation — would not legally permit a centre to perform Tawafoq-linked services such as contract attestation or mediation on behalf of private sector parties.
Start a Tawafoq Service Centre for Employers and Employees in Dubai
Over 3.5 million private sector workers are registered with MOHRE. Every one of those employment relationships generates contracts to process, and a share of them generate disputes to settle. Tawafoq centres are the authorised intermediaries that handle both.
This guide covers what activity code 6910.96 lets you do, why this business can only be set up one way, and how the two mandatory approvals fit together. Read the jurisdiction section first, because it is not the usual choice.
Key Stats at a Glance
What This License Covers
Activity code 6910.96 sits under ISIC Division 69, legal and accounting activities, in the auxiliary legal and labour services group. It is not a law firm license. It is a regulated facilitation function tied directly to MOHRE.
Tawafoq is a MOHRE initiative that authorises licensed centres to handle employment contract attestation, labour dispute mediation and employer-employee reconciliation in the private sector.
Centres act as authorised intermediaries between private sector parties and MOHRE, working inside a defined scope.
The line that matters commercially and legally: a Tawafoq centre mediates and processes, it does not adjudicate or issue binding rulings.
Communicate that boundary to every client in writing, because a client who thinks you can rule on their case is a complaint waiting to happen.
Who Your Clients Will Be
The most underserved segment is also the largest:
- Small employers with one to twenty staff and no PRO or HR function
- Domestic worker employers, a high-frequency recurring vertical
- Blue-collar employers in construction, hospitality and retail
- Employees seeking contract clarity, attestation or dispute support
Small employers are the core. They cannot justify a full-time compliance function, and they cannot ignore their MOHRE duties either, which leaves them with nowhere else to go.
A Tawafoq centre fills exactly that gap, and there are a great many of these businesses in Dubai.
The domestic worker sector deserves separate attention. Contracts, renewals and disputes there are recurring and regulated, which produces consistent repeat business rather than one-off transactions.
Mainland or Free Zone
This is the rare activity where there is no choice to weigh.
A Tawafoq centre must be registered on the mainland under DET, because operations are tied to MOHRE's accreditation framework and that framework needs a physical mainland presence and operational standards a free zone structure cannot satisfy.
Plan from the outset for a mainland entity and a real office. Let the regulator decide it, not the price.
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Step by Step Setup Guide
- Step 1, confirm the jurisdiction: Mainland Dubai under DET. There is no free zone option for this activity.
- Step 2, book your trade name: The name must reflect the service without implying legal practice or adjudication authority.
- Step 3, apply for initial approval: Submit to DET, with a MOHRE approval or No Objection Certificate as a mandatory parallel step for activity code 6910.96.
- Step 4, secure a physical office: A registered Dubai address is needed. Virtual offices will not satisfy MOHRE's operational standards for an accredited centre.
- Step 5, register the tenancy through Ejari: And submit your fit-out compliance documents.
- Step 6, get MOHRE centre accreditation: Separate from the trade license and not negotiable. Without it the centre cannot legally work on the Tawafoq platform.
- Step 7, take the license: Once both approvals are in place you receive the trade license, staff visa allocation and system access to MOHRE's Tawafoq platform.
Compliance and What You Need in Place
Two approvals, one business
DET issues the commercial license permitting the business to trade. MOHRE grants the specific authorisation to act as an intermediary inside its labour compliance and dispute framework. Both are mandatory, and a DET license alone does not let you perform Tawafoq-linked services.
Trained staff
Anyone working in the centre must know MOHRE systems and UAE Labour Law as codified under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021. Competence is audited. Centres that cannot show operational capability risk losing platform access, which ends the business overnight.
Case records
Every case processed must be documented and stored securely. Data handling duties apply, and confidentiality here is a regulatory expectation rather than simply good practice.
Renewals
Annual renewal is needed with both DET and MOHRE. A lapsed renewal suspends platform access, which halts operations rather than merely inconveniencing them.
Emiratisation
As the centre scales, Nafis targets apply. Plan headcount around that from the outset rather than retrofitting compliance once you are already staffed up.
Market Opportunity
The revenue model is transaction-based: per-service fees for contract processing, attestation and mediation sessions. There is no retainer dependency, so volume is the driver, and the volume is structural.
Every private sector employment contract needs processing, and disputes are a permanent feature of a labour market with over 3.5 million registered workers.
Dubai holds the largest concentration of private sector employers in the UAE, which makes it the natural base.
The small employer segment is where the gap is widest, because those businesses carry duties they cannot handle in-house and have no HR department to absorb them.
Revenue per client rises easily through bundling.
Typing centre operations, visa assistance and document clearing sit naturally alongside Tawafoq services and add very little overhead.
A centre that becomes the default place a small employer goes for all of it captures far more than the per-transaction fee suggests, and it stops that employer shopping around on price.
Conclusion
A Tawafoq Service Centre is a regulated, MOHRE-linked business with a clear market, recurring transaction volume and a compliance-driven moat around it.
The barrier to entry is the MOHRE accreditation process, which filters out operators who cannot meet the operational standards.
That is exactly what gives a properly licensed centre its value: the same difficulty that slows you down at the start keeps the field thin afterwards.
Structure it correctly from the outset, and treat the physical office and MOHRE approval as the first decisions rather than the last.
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References
- Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE)
- Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism
- Ejari tenancy registration
