Abu Dhabi: More than 60,000 employees in the UAE have subscribed to the unemployment insurance scheme in its first two days of operation, which opened on January 1.
The social security program, referred to as the “Involuntary Loss of Employment Insurance Scheme,” was introduced to pay emiratis and residents in the public as well as private sectors a cash sum for three months if they lose their jobs.
Employees working in the UAE’s free zones are currently exempt from the scheme.
Workers can subscribe to the insurance program in various ways, such as through the insurance pool’s website or smart application, the employee’s bank, ATMs, money exchange companies, business service centres, kiosk machines, du, Etisalat, and directly with an insurance company.
Approximately 86 percent signed up for the scheme through the Involuntary Loss of Employment (ILOE) website.
Employers are not required to register their employees in an insurance scheme, nor are they required to pay any contributions to the scheme.
Employees are eligible for the jobless payment if they have worked and subscribed for at least 12 months to the insurance program, as long as they have not been dismissed for disciplinary reasons or because they resigned.
The compensation money will be given for a maximum of three months from the date of an employee’s job loss and will be calculated at 60 percent of their basic salary over the most recent six months before the loss of employment, for a maximum payment of $5,445 (AED20,000) a month.