The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) announced that as of June 1, 2026, the new regulations of the "Wage Protection System" (WPS) will be implemented in the UAE; these regulations will enforce stricter monitoring of wage payments for private sector employees, with heavy penalties for non-compliant companies.

According to the new law, companies are required to pay employees' salaries by the first day of each month at the latest. Under previous regulations, employers had a grace period of up to 15 days, and delays in salary payments were not immediately considered a violation, but this grace period has now been eliminated.

Under these new regulations:

🔹 From the second day of delay, an official notice and warning will be issued to the company.

🔹 From the fifth day, the issuance of new work permits for the company will be halted.

🔹 From the eleventh day, administrative penalties will be applied, and in case of repeated violations, the company's ranking and classification will be downgraded.

🔹 From the sixteenth day, the Ministry of Labor can automatically register a labor dispute case without the need for a worker's complaint.

🔹 From the twenty-first day, legal actions to recover overdue salaries will commence, and there may even be travel bans, asset restrictions, and referral of the case to the public prosecutor for the responsible individual in the company.

The new law also defines a new criterion for measuring companies' compliance. If a company pays at least 85 percent of the total salaries of its employees on time, it will be considered "in compliance with regulations" administratively. However, this does not mean a reduction in employees' salaries, and workers still have the right to receive 100 percent of their salaries.

The Ministry of Labor has emphasized that these changes are aimed at providing greater protection for employees' rights, preventing delays in wage payments, and expediting the handling of employer violations.

Some groups, including employees with legal cases in court, individuals for whom a job abandonment report has been filed, employees on unpaid leave, certain seafarers, and some specific jobs and activities will be exempt from violation calculations under this system.

Source: Gulf Times