New deadline announced for unemployment insurance registration in UAE

The mandatory job loss insurance, also known as Involuntary Loss of Employment (ILOE), was launched on January 1, 2023, for employees working in the private sector, the federal government and free zones. The workers were given January to June time to subscribe, failing which penalty will be imposed.

While investors, domestic workers, temporary contract workers, residents aged under 18, and retirees who are earning a retirement pension and have started a new job are exempted from the scheme.

Since January, 4.6 million employees have subscribed to the scheme. And the extension is a reprieve, especially for blue-collar workers, as it will provide them more time to subscribe to the scheme.

As per MoHRE guidelines, subscribing to the job loss insurance scheme is the responsibility of the employee, not the employer.

“I am very pleased that the deadline has been extended because I came back from my home country after a long vacation. Since I was short of cash, the extension will give me more to settle my payments,” said M. Zubair, an admin executive.

Costing Dh5 per month plus VAT, employees earning a monthly salary of less than Dh16,000 can subscribe on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annually and annual basis. For employees earning Dh16,000-plus basic income are required to pay Dh10 per month. They can also choose to pay among the four options given to them. Workers have the right to subscribe to additional insurance benefits.

The employee will get cash compensation for three months from the date of loss of employment, amounting to 60 per cent of their average basic salary in the last six months preceding their termination for non-disciplinary reasons.

To claim compensation, the subscribers must be registered in the scheme for a period of no less than 12 consecutive months and must submit an application requesting compensation within a period of 30 days from leaving work, provided that their employment was not terminated for disciplinary reasons, have not resigned, or the compensation request was not fraudulent.

Employees will not receive compensation from the date of joining another job or he/she has left the country.

Workers who have not yet subscribed can do so through the insurance pool website www.iloe.ae and its app, ATMs, business service centres, Al Ansari Exchange, banking applications, telecom companies’ bills, and text messages.