VoxxArrive · UAE onboarding topic
Wage Protection System (WPS): The UAE Employer's Guide to Paying Salaries Compliantly
The Wage Protection System (WPS) is the UAE Central Bank and MOHRE electronic channel through which private-sector employers must pay wages, submitting a Salary Information File (SIF) via a Central Bank-approved bank or exchange house. Under Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026 (effective 1 June 2026), wages for the preceding Gregorian month are due on the 1st of each month, employers must transfer at least 85% of total wages due on time, and the old grace period is gone - enforcement now escalates from Day 2. New hires must be onboarded into WPS from their first pay cycle, as the previous first-30-days exemption has been removed.
Steps
- Confirm you are in scope - All private-sector establishments licensed by MOHRE must pay wages through WPS. Under Resolution 340 of 2026, exemptions are narrow (e.g. employees paid abroad with ministry approval, mission/short-term permit holders up to 3 months, court-restricted individuals). The prior exemption for a new employee's first 30 days has been removed, so a new hire must be in WPS from their first cycle. Free zones with their own employment regimes (e.g. DIFC, ADGM) sit outside MOHRE's mainland WPS - check your free zone's own payroll rules.
- Register with a Central Bank-approved paying agent - Open a corporate account with a WPS agent - a bank or exchange house authorised by the Central Bank of the UAE (e.g. Emirates NBD, ADCB, Mashreq, Al Ansari Exchange and others). Each employee needs a UAE bank account or a WPS-linked salary/payroll card so wages can be credited to a valid AE IBAN.
- Generate the Salary Information File (SIF) - The SIF is a comma-separated text file with two record types: one SCR (Salary Control Record) header - record type, 13-digit MOHRE employer ID, bank routing code, file creation date/time, salary month, employee count, total salary, currency (AED) - followed by one EDR (Employee Details Record) per worker: 14-digit MOHRE labour card number, employee bank routing code, 23-character UAE IBAN, pay-period start/end dates, days in period, fixed salary and variable pay. The filename is the employer ID plus creation date/time with a .sif extension. Totals in the SCR must reconcile against the EDR rows.
- Submit the SIF through your agent and pay - Upload the SIF to your WPS agent bank/exchange house. The agent validates the file structure, then routes the payment instructions and file to the WPS. Fund the account so wages actually clear - a submitted SIF without settled funds does not count as payment.
- Pay by the 1st and clear at least 85% on time - Wages for the preceding Gregorian month are due on the 1st of each Gregorian month. An establishment is treated as compliant only if at least 85% of total wages due are transferred on time; any shortfall below that (beyond lawful deductions) flags the file as non-compliant. Electronic monitoring is automatic and does not need an employee complaint to trigger.
- Onboard each new hire into the next SIF - Once a new employee's work permit and labour card are issued and their bank account/salary card is set up, add their EDR line to the SIF for their first applicable pay cycle. Do not rely on any first-month grace - that exemption was removed under Resolution 340 of 2026.
- Keep records and monitor MOHRE alerts - Retain SIFs and payment confirmations. If MOHRE issues a non-compliance notification (from Day 2 after the due date), resolve the wage shortfall immediately to avoid escalating consequences such as work-permit suspension, fines, travel bans and prosecution referrals.
Timeline
Wages are due on the 1st of each Gregorian month for the preceding month (Ministerial Resolution 340 of 2026, effective 1 June 2026) - there is no longer a grace period. Enforcement escalates from the due date: Day 2, MOHRE may issue notifications/warnings; Day 5, new work-permit issuance may be suspended; Day 11, repeated violations within six months may trigger administrative fines and reclassification; Day 16, work-permit suspension for employers with 25+ employees; Day 21, precautionary asset attachment, travel bans on responsible individuals and referral to the Public Prosecutor. Practical onboarding of a new hire into WPS depends on their work permit, labour card and bank account being ready before the SIF cut-off.
Cost & fees
There is no MOHRE fee to 'use' WPS itself, but agent banks/exchange houses charge per-transaction or per-file processing fees that vary by provider and by whether staff use bank accounts or salary cards. Penalties for non-compliance are set by MOHRE/Cabinet resolutions and are assessed per affected worker and per violation, escalating for repeat offences within a rolling window; exact current per-employee fine amounts should be confirmed against MOHRE's fee/penalty schedule as figures cited by third parties vary. Employers are also liable for the wages themselves plus any reclassification consequences.
Your task slice
6 of the 57 onboarding tasks apply here.
Register the new joiner in payroll with a WPS-compliant salary structure
Confirm the employee holds a WPS-eligible UAE bank account or salary card
Collect employee bank/IBAN details for WPS payroll set-up
Activate WPS salary registration with MOHRE and the bank/agent
Run the first WPS payroll and confirm on-time salary transfer
WPS SIF file
Verify ongoing WPS compliance across the first pay cycles
Some figures on this page vary by jurisdiction, zone or nationality, or could not be independently confirmed from a public source at time of writing - confirm the current figure with the regulator before relying on it.
Sources
Frequently asked
What changed under Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026?
Effective 1 June 2026, Resolution 340 of 2026 (which repealed Resolution 598 of 2022) set a unified salary due date - the 1st of each Gregorian month for the previous month - removed the old grace period, raised the on-time transfer threshold to at least 85% of total wages due, and removed the exemption that previously covered a new employee's first 30 days. Enforcement is now electronic and escalates from Day 2.
What is a SIF and who creates it?
The Salary Information File (SIF) is the comma-separated payroll file the employer generates each month. It has one SCR header (company and total figures) and one EDR line per employee (labour card number, IBAN, pay period, fixed and variable pay). You submit it to your Central Bank-approved WPS agent, which validates it and routes payment through the WPS.
Do I have to put a new hire in WPS in their first month?
Yes. Under Resolution 340 of 2026 the previous first-30-days exemption was removed, so once the employee's work permit, labour card and bank account/salary card are in place, add their EDR to the SIF for their first applicable pay cycle.
What does the 85% rule mean in practice?
An establishment is considered to have paid on time only if it transfers at least 85% of the total wages due through WPS by the due date, with any shortfall attributable to lawful deductions. In effect this caps on-time WPS deductions at around 15% of total wages; larger gaps flag the file as non-compliant.
Does WPS apply in the free zones like DIFC and ADGM?
MOHRE's WPS covers mainland private-sector establishments licensed by MOHRE. Financial free zones with their own employment regimes - notably DIFC and ADGM - operate outside the MOHRE mainland WPS, and other free zones may have their own arrangements, so confirm the payroll rules of your specific free zone authority.