The General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA) released a report in 2021 mentioning that the UAE is one of the most attractive Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries for GCC citizens to work in, according to media reports. The report also mentioned that out of 19,808 employees, 6,903 are working outside their countries.
Hanan Al-Sahlawi, Executive Director of the Pensions Sector and Chairman of the Technical Committee, who was representing the UAE in the meetings of the Permanent Technical Committee for Civil Retirement and Social Security Apparatus in the GCC countries mentioned the importance of the insurance protection extension system that has been offered to the GCC citizens has resulted in unity and employment opportunities.
Al-Sahlawi told the media, “Social, economic and political ties between the GCC countries have resulted in encouraging employees to easily transfer from one GCC country to the other, offering them the right to enjoy insurance protection as if they were working in their own home country. I urge GCC citizens working in the region to make sure their employers register and pay contributions to the pension authority in the employees’ home country. It is extremely important that employers commit to paying contributions according to employees’ actual salaries to ensure that contributions and end of service benefits are made on time. The monthly contribution rates for insured individuals covered by the system differ in each country.”
The insurance system in the UAE is made in a made in a way such that the insurer has to pay 5 percent, public entities 15 percent and private entities 12.5 percent, and the rest of the 2.5 percent covered by the government, which is a show of support and encouragement for Emirati employees working in the private sector. People who are insured in Kuwait and work in either public or private entities contribute 7.5 percent, while the employer bears 11 percent. In Saudi Arabia, the employer in the public and private sector bears 9 percent, with the insurers bearing the same.