Awareness & Education

An estimated 17bn was accrued as EOSB in 2025 alone, based on WPS data

Over just six years from 2020, the cumulative accrual is estimated to be over AED 70bn.

By Nisha Braganza

AED 409bn was processed through the Wage Protection System (WPS) for an average of ~7.3m employees during 2025, according to data published by the Central Bank of the UAE. That's roughly 20% growth in both employees covered and salaries processed in just one year.

This data is interesting because it gives us a simple way to estimate the End-of-Service Benefits (EOSB) provisioned in 2025 under the gratuity system.

Assuming basic salary represents 60% of wages processed and applying the standard gratuity accrual rates (with 50/50 weighting between 21/30-day rates), it is estimated that ~AED 17bn of EOSB accrued in 2025 alone.

And over just the last six years from 2020, the estimated accrual accumulates to over AED 70bn.

The actual outstanding provision will naturally differ because gratuity is paid when employees leave, and the calculation necessarily depends on salary history, workforce tenure distribution and many other factors.

Furthermore, the WPS data also does not represent the entire UAE employment market, so the national EOSB exposure is likely higher still.

Irrespective, EOSB is a sizable financial obligation, growing each year, remains largely unfunded under the gratuity system, and has an uncertain payment date because no employer can reliably predict when employees will separate.

We’ll be covering more on this in the coming weeks, including a first look at how some UAE companies are managing their EOSB exposure.

If you are a HR, Finance or a Business Leader and would like to better manage your organisation's EOSB exposure, join us at our next EOSB Employer Briefing on 10 September at Emaar Square in Dubai: https://www.vestora.ae/employers/briefings

The briefings are educational and free to attend. Please register with your work email.