ABU DHABI: As many as 17,304 contributors have registered with the General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA) ever since Federal Law No. (57) of 2023 regarding pension and social security and its amendments has been announced.
These numbers, revealed today, date back to when the law was introduced on October 31, 2023 up until this date, with statistics indicating that the private sector accounted for 15,334 contributors, following 1,444 contributors from the government sector and 526 from the federal sector.
These numbers are a reflection of the success of GPSSA’s ‘Know Your Law’ campaign which helped raise awareness regarding Law No. 57 of 2023, the authority said.
As part of the ‘Know Your Law’ campaign, newly insured Emiratis learnt more about the role of insurance and social security in providing economic stability for themselves and for their families, while highlighting the underlining risks that come alongside an insurance policy, such as old age, disability, decease and occupational diseases.
Detailed information was also made available regarding the different types of retirement funds available in the UAE, with the various Emirates and sectors they covered, alongside the rules and regulations that govern registration and the ability to merge funds.
Insured members became aware of the fact that as long as they meet the age, status and employment criteria’s, all Emiratis employed in federal, government and private sectors across the UAE are covered by the GPSSA, with exception to government and private sector employees in Abu Dhabi, in addition to private sector employees working in Sharjah.
During the campaign, members learnt more about the law’s contribution rates, which amounts to 26 per cent, out of which the insured bears 11 per cent and the employer bears 15 per cent. In the private sector however, the government pays 2.5 per cent of the contribution rate as a form of support for Emiratis whose contribution account salaries are less than Dh20,000.
The campaign helped highlight the importance of abiding by registration and contribution regulations, and the insured’s obligation to make sure he/she is registered within the first 30 days of joining the entity, otherwise the employer bears a fine of Dh200 for each day delayed in registering the Emirati employee. Insured members were also made-aware of their duty to pay monthly contributions in order to avoid late fines, which is calculated at the rate of 1 per cent of the value of contributions due for each day delayed.
Awareness was also raised regarding retirement pension entitlement cases as per Law No. 57 of 2023, which is particularly evident amongst women, whose retirement ages have been reduced in accordance to the number of children she has. Optional contribution cases have been explained to insured females who choose to take care of their children, and to students enrolled in an educational institute for the purposes of completing their higher degree.
Ways to calculate pension entitlement and end-of-service gratuity percentages as per the law were clarified, with emphasis on the various steps involved in calculating the contribution account salary, the average contribution calculation salary, the pension calculation salary (based on years of service), and finally the contribution percentage.
