Emiratisation Targets in the UAE

Companies that have not achieved the annual Emiratisation targets for the year 2023 and registered their Emirati workforce with one of the approved pension funds/authorities in the country before 31st December 2023 will be subject to:

• AED 84,000 payment of Tawteen contributions for every UAE national was not appointed before 31st December 2023.
• The company will stop being granted new work permits for non-UAE nationals from January 2024.
• Downgraded and reclassified to Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) Category 3 for not being committed to achieving Emiratisation targets.

If it is proven that the company is carrying out false Emiritisation, the establishment will be required to pay the same AED84,000 tawteen contribution fine for every case deemed false.

Employer Pension Contributions for UAE National Employees

The two approved pension funds/authorities in the country for Emirati/ UAE National employees are the General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA) for Dubai and wider GCC National employees and the Abu Dhabi Pension Fund (ADPF) for Abu Dhabi-based employees.

The Pension Law no. (57) of 2023 has released an employer guideline for monthly contributions for the months of October through to December 2023.

Contribution Amount

The new contribution rate starting from October 2023 is 26% of the total salary:

• 11% is the contribution account salary (employee’s share in government and private sector)
• 15% is the contribution account salary (employer’s share in government and private sector)

The Government bears 2.5% on behalf of the employer in the private sector for Emirati employees whose salary is less than AED20,000. Meaning in this case that the employer would be subject to a 12.5% contribution rate.

Contribution Payments

The contribution is paid for Government employees based on the employee account salary with a maximum of AED100,000.

For Private employees, the contribution is paid based on the employee account salary above AED3,000 and if it does not exceed AED70,000.

The contributions can be paid in one of two ways:

1. The new 26% contribution rate is to be paid for the months of October to December 2023 and going forward.
2. The current contribution rate of 20% can be paid for October to December 2023 so long as the additional 6% contribution rate is settled by 1 January 2024.

How can PRO Partner Group assist?

To ensure you remain compliant and to avoid fines, we encourage you to accelerate your recruitment process. This can be achieved by posting any job openings on Nafis’s platform, which is a great resource for sourcing and hiring UAE National employees.

PRO Partner Group can assist with issuing work permits for your UAE national employees and registering them with one of the approved pension funds/authorities, GPSSA or ADFP and assist with any further employee maintenance support including visa issuance, renewals, WPS and payroll requirements and any related HR services.