UAE standardises deadline for payments of private-sector salaries
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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is standardising the deadline for paying private-sector salaries to regulate wage payments across the country, Khaleej Times reported on Monday. According to a new rule introduced under the UAE’s Wage Protection System (WPS), salaries must be paid on the first day of each month for the previous month, while payments made after the first will be considered delayed. The rule is scheduled to come into effect on June 1. According to Khaleej Times, the decision was issued on May 12 following a ministerial resolution issued earlier in the month by the UAE’s minister of human resources and emiratisation. The resolution aims to strengthen compliance and ensure timely wage payments across private sector establishments. Under the new regulation, all companies registered with the ministry are required to distribute wages through the approved system or other authorised payment channels. Employers must also provide documents and data confirming salary payments. The UAE also outlined clear thresholds for what constitutes compliance under the WPS and consequences for delays in a ministerial resolution. According to Khaleej Times, a private company will be considered compliant if it pays “at least 85 per cent of the total wages due to its employees” by the set deadline. “This threshold takes into account cases where part of the salary may be legally deducted or withheld,” Khaleej said, adding that a worker will still be considered to have received their salary if they are paid at least 85pc of their total entitled wage — as long as the remaining amount is due to legally permitted deductions or withholdings. For companies that fail to pay wages on time, authorities will enforce penalties and measures in line with existing laws and procedures, with oversight from judicial and regulatory bodies, it added. The decision set out a series of escalating measures, saying that authorities would begin sending notifications and alerts to non-compliant establishme