Desk research against primary sources, with the issuing authority linked where a page states an official fee, rule or deadline.
The risk is not symmetric between you and your employer, but neither side comes out ahead. You face deportation and a ban for working on the wrong visa category, while the employer is exposed to a fine of AED 50,000 per illegal worker — a cost that scales with how many people they have doing the same thing, not a flat one-off penalty. An employer who tells you it is fine ‘while the paperwork goes through’ is making a decision that only they benefit from if it goes unnoticed.
The 90-day job seeker route is easy to misread as a work visa because it lets you be in the country and meeting employers, but it only covers the search itself. Actual employment still requires a proper work visa to be issued before you start — accepting a role and beginning work on the strength of a job offer alone, before that visa exists, is the same violation as working on any other tourist or visit visa, regardless of how close the paperwork is to finished.