Over 60,000 Sign Up for UAE's Unemployment Insurance Scheme in 2 Days

In a span of two days, more than 60,000 people subscribed to UAE's Unemployment Insurance Scheme (UIS), which was launched on January 1, 2023.

Following the launch date, 86% of employees applied for the scheme through the Involuntary Loss of Employment (ILOE) website, among those, 90% of the applicants opted for an annual subscription.

The number of subscribers in the Unemployment Insurance Scheme has reached 60,000 within two days.
The Scheme that entered into force on January 1st, 2023 is an implementation of the Federal-Decree No 13. of 2022 regarding Unemployment Insurance that aims to provide temporary pic.twitter.com/eE8a6oz2Nn

— وزارة الموارد البشرية والتوطين (@MOHRE_UAE) January 3, 2023

The scheme exempts employees working in free zones of the UAE; investors or owners of establishments, domestic workers, temporary contract workers, juveniles (under 18 years), and retirees who receive a pension or have joined a new job.

People earning up to AED 16,000 will pay a monthly insurance cost of AED 5; these employees come under Category A of recipients of the insurance. Meanwhile, people earning more than AED 16,000 will pay AED 10 per month; these employees come under Category B of recipients of the insurance. The premium for the insurance can be payed, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, or annually. 

The unemployment compensation will be paid for a maximum of three months, beginning from the date of the recipient's unemployment. This compensation will be determined by calculating 60% of the basic salary the recipient received in the past six months before his or her job loss. The maximum compensation amount that employees in Category A can receive is AED 10,000, while for employees in Category B it is AED 20,000. However, the individual has to be subscribed to the scheme for twelve consecutive months in order to receive the pay out. If the person has left the country or has started a new job, he or she cannot be granted the compensation. 

The recipient will receive the compensation within the two weeks following the claim date and the insurance recipient must submit the claim through the designated channels, which are the official ILOE website, smart application, or the call centre 600 599 555.

If employees want to subscribe to the program, they can do so through the insurance pool’s website or smart application, banks, self-service kiosks, Al Ansari Exchange, business service centres, and telecom service providers.