Awareness & Education

44,000 of about 7 million employees benefited from WPP

A small aggregate risk but still material for the individual who has to bear it.

By Nisha Braganza

Last week, MOHRE published the latest stats on the Workers Protection Programme (WPP). More than 44,000 employees have benefited, with more than AED 320m paid out. MOHRE puts the average benefit at around AED 7,000 per beneficiary.

The number of beneficiaries is small relative to the UAE's workforce, which runs into millions. And the smaller that fraction, the better if it were the count of all the workers that experienced unpaid wages, gratuity or other entitlements.

However, 44,000 is only the count of workers that ultimately became WPP beneficiaries. What remains unknown is how many workers:

• didn't know there was a mechanism to pursue their dues;
• resolved the matter directly with their employer;
• pursued a claim through another route;
• left the country without filing a complaint, perhaps because staying on to pursue a claim was not financially viable;
• left the country before their case was resolved; or
• have an outstanding claim that has not yet resulted in a WPP payment.

So, the number of workers who have experienced unpaid entitlements could therefore be higher, though by how much remains unknown. At the same time, the published data does not suggest a widespread problem.

In other words, on an aggregate basis, the non-payment risk is small. But for the individual who has to bear the loss, the financial consequence is still material.

For End-of-Service Benefits, the stronger protection is the UAE EOSB Savings Scheme where your dues are funded each month and ringfenced within a regulated framework and your EOSB is already set aside by the time you leave your job, rather than something to pursue or wait on if your employer cannot or will not pay.

If you are an employee, here are two questions worth asking yourself today:

• If your EOSB is not currently funded, how confident are you that it will be paid when you leave your job?
• And if you ever have to claim through WPP, would the AED 20,000 cap actually cover what you are owed?

If you want greater visibility and protection around your EOSB, speak to your HR team about the UAE EOSB Savings Scheme.