UAE an attractive work destination for GCC countries, says pension authority

The UAE is one of the most attractive Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries for GCC citizens to work in, according to the 2021 statistics released by the General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA).

A total of 6,903 employees from GCC countries work in the UAE, out of the total 19,808 GCC employees working outside their countries.

Hanan Al-Sahlawi, Executive Director of the Pensions Sector, representing the UAE in the meetings of the Permanent Technical Committee for Civil Retirement and Social Security Apparatus in the GCC countries, stressed that the insurance protection extension system offered to the GCC citizens has created further unity and employment transfer opportunities within their countries. 

“Social, economic and political ties between the GCC countries have resulted in encouraging employees to easily transfer from one GCC country to the other, offering them the right to enjoy insurance protection as if they were working in their own home country,” Al-Sahlawi said.

Al-Sahlawi said that GPSSA plays the mediator role between the insured and his/her pension authority in their home country and that is to ensure that they are registered and to follow the contribution settlements and finally their end of service when applicable.

“I urge GCC citizens working in the region to make sure their employers register and pay contributions to the pension authority in the employees’ home country,” she added. 

The monthly contribution rates for insured individuals covered by the system differ in each country.

In the UAE, the insured is expected to pay 5 percent, public entities 15 percent and private entities 12.5 percent, and the rest of the 2.5 percent covered by the government as a means of support and encouragement for Emirati employees working in the private sector.

Insured individuals in Kuwait who work in either public or private entities contribute 7.5 percent, while the employer bears 11 percent. 

In Saudi Arabia, the employer in the public and private sector bears nine percent, and the insured bears the same percentage. In Qatar, the insured bears five percent and the employer 10 percent.

In Oman, the insured in the public sector contributes seven percent, and the employer bears 15 percent, while in the private sector, the insured contributes seven percent. 

In comparison, the employer pays 10.5 percent of the value of these contributions. In Bahrain, the insured working in either the public or private sector bears 6 percent and the employer in the public sector 15 percent, while in the private sector employers pay nine percent.

Al-Sahlawi stressed the importance of the employer’s commitment to pay GCC citizens the end-of-service gratuity prior to applying the protection extension system during their duration of employment. It should not prejudice any other rights or benefits that are established under the regulations that the employers are bound by with their employees.

Any service period before the date of application of this system with the current employer may be merged with the employees’ previous service period under the conditions of accumulating the service periods in each country.