Wages Protection System (WPS) UAE 2027: Rules & Penalties

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Table of Contents

• WPS rules under Resolution No. 340 of 2026
• What happens if salaries are paid late?
• What is a WPS block?
• Is WPS mandatory in the UAE?
• Is WPS mandatory for free zone companies?
• Does WPS apply to domestic workers?
• How WPS salary payment works in 6 steps
• How to register your company for WPS
• Can you pay WPS salaries without a bank account?
• Can salaries be paid in a currency other than AED?
• What changed in the December 2025 WPS update?
• What is a WPS SIF file?
• What does “WPS unfulfilled” or “non-WPS salary” mean?
• What can employees do if their salary is late?
• How to pay salaries by the 1st of the month
• Pay every salary through WPS by the 1st, every month
• FAQs on WPS in the UAE

Last updated: 5 November 2026 | Reviewed by: M. A. Farahat, ACPA, CFE, CICA

Short answer: WPS (Wages Protection System) is the electronic system every MoHRE-registered private company in the UAE must use to pay salaries. You send a Salary Information File (SIF) to an approved bank or exchange house, which pays your staff and reports the payment to the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE). Since 1 June 2026, under Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026, salaries are due by the 1st of each month for the previous month. If you’re late, alerts start on day 2 and new work permits are suspended from day 5.

Before 1 June 2026, a company that paid salaries on the 5th or the 10th of the month still counted as compliant. Resolution No. 340 removed that grace period. If your payroll cut-off, approvals and bank funding still run on the old timetable, you’re now late every month, even if every employee is paid in full.

WPS rules under Resolution No. 340 of 2026

What happens if salaries are paid late?

Resolution No. 340 of 2026 sets out a fixed escalation timeline, counted from the salary due date:

The penalties stack. By day 21, a company can be blocked from hiring, fined, downgraded to the Third Category and facing court action, all over one month’s payroll.

What is a WPS block?

“WPS block” is the name employers use for the suspension of new work permits that MoHRE applies from day 5 after the salary due date. While it’s in place, you can’t issue new work permits, so hiring stops. Under Resolution No. 340, MoHRE monitors the establishment electronically until payment is proven, so the block is lifted once the late salaries are paid through WPS and the payment shows in MoHRE’s records. A block from day 16 onward also comes with labour disputes registered for employers with 25 or more workers, and those disputes need settling as well.

Is WPS mandatory in the UAE?

Yes, for every private-sector company registered with MoHRE. Company size doesn’t matter. A two-person trading company and a 2,000-person contractor follow the same rule.

These workers and employers are excluded from WPS:

• Workers whose wage complaint has gone to court
• Workers reported absent under a work-abandonment report
• Workers on unpaid leave, with supporting documents submitted to MoHRE
• Workers whose liberty is restricted by a competent authority, for that period, if MoHRE is notified
• Seafarers on vessels
• Foreign staff of foreign companies who are paid outside the UAE
• Holders of mission work permits of three months or less
• Banks and financial institutions, houses of worship, and UAE nationals who own fishing boats or public taxis

Is WPS mandatory for free zone companies?

It depends on the free zone. Jafza and DMCC both require companies to pay salaries through WPS, and publish their own WPS guidelines. The DIFC and ADGM have their own employment laws and wage systems. Other free zones set their own payroll rules, so check with your free zone authority before your first payroll.

Even where WPS doesn’t apply, the federal rule that salaries must be paid on time still does.

Does WPS apply to domestic workers?

Partly. Domestic workers fall under Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022. MoHRE makes WPS mandatory for specified domestic worker professions and optional for the other 14. Employers of domestic workers can pay through MoHRE’s electronic wage payment service.

How WPS salary payment works in 6 steps

1. Each employee needs a bank account or a WPS payroll card.
2. Your company registers with a WPS agent: a bank, exchange house or financial institution approved by the Central Bank.
3. Each month, payroll prepares the Salary Information File (SIF).
4. You fund the salary account and upload the SIF to the agent before its cut-off time.
5. The agent submits the file to the Central Bank’s WPS, which secures the funds and credits each employee.
6. MoHRE receives the payment data and compares what each worker was paid with the wage in their contract.

Each bank and exchange house sets its own cut-off time, with separate times for Fridays and the last working day of the month. Get your agent’s cut-off times in writing, then set your payroll approval date from them.

How to register your company for WPS

1. Get your company’s MoHRE establishment number. This is the 13-digit employer ID that goes into every salary file.
2. Choose a WPS agent. Agents are banks, exchange houses and payment service providers authorised by the Central Bank of the UAE. MoHRE’s partner institutions include Etisalat, Al Ansari Exchange, Lulu Exchange, GCC Remits, Botim and MBank.
3. Sign the agent’s WPS agreement and ask for its onboarding checklist and SIF template.
4. Collect each employee’s 14-digit personal number from their labour card or work permit, and their IBAN or salary card number.
5. Register every new employee in WPS as soon as their work permit is issued, so they are in the first payroll after they join.

Can you pay WPS salaries without a bank account?

Yes. Employees without a UAE bank account can be paid through a WPS salary card or a WPS payment account. The Central Bank lets approved payment service providers open WPS payment accounts, and exchange houses issue salary cards to unbanked workers. In the salary file, the employee’s card or account number goes in the same field as an IBAN, with the agent’s 9-digit routing code. If your staff use FAB Ratibi cards, see our guide to the FAB salary card balance check.

Can salaries be paid in a currency other than AED?

The UAE Government Portal says salaries are paid in UAE dirhams, or in another currency if the employment contract says so. In practice, the WPS salary file itself has a currency field that agents set to AED, and DMCC requires all salaries to be paid in AED. If a contract sets pay in another currency, agree the conversion with your WPS agent before the first payroll.

What changed in the December 2025 WPS update?

In December 2025, MoHRE launched an update to the Wages Protection System. MoHRE now lists the Central Bank of the UAE and Al Etihad Payments as its strategic WPS partners, alongside the partner financial institutions named above. Resolution No. 340 of 2026 then set the new rules that took effect on 1 June 2026, including the 1st-of-month due date.

What is a WPS SIF file?

The SIF is a fixed-format file with one detail record for each employee and one control record for the whole file. Its fields are:

A bank rejects the SIF when a routing code is wrong, an employee ID is missing a digit, or the control totals don’t match the detail lines. Ask your WPS agent for its SIF template in Excel or CSV and build every month’s file from it. For the full field-by-field layout and a free template, see our WPS SIF file format guide.

What does “WPS unfulfilled” or “non-WPS salary” mean?

A non-WPS salary is a salary paid in cash, by cheque or by an ordinary bank transfer instead of through WPS. Even if the employee receives the full amount, MoHRE doesn’t record it as a compliant payment.

“Unfulfilled” appears on MoHRE records when the system hasn’t matched a compliant WPS payment for an employee in a given month. Four errors trigger it: a salary paid outside WPS, a SIF rejected by the bank, a wrong employee ID, or a salary below the contract wage. Fix the cause and pay through WPS to clear it.

What can employees do if their salary is late?

Employees can file a salary complaint through MoHRE’s online service on the MoHRE website or app, or call MoHRE on 600 590000. Under Resolution No. 340, labour disputes are also opened automatically from day 16 for employers with 25 or more workers.

The 85% rule protects employers from being treated as non-compliant over lawful deductions, but it doesn’t reduce what employees are owed. A worker who receives less than their full salary can still claim the balance.

How to pay salaries by the 1st of the month

• Move your payroll cut-off for overtime, leave and new joiners earlier, to the 20th or 25th of the month.
• Approve the payroll and fund the salary account two to three working days before the 1st.
• Check employee IDs, routing codes and IBANs whenever someone joins or changes bank.
• Make sure the salary in the SIF matches the wage in the MoHRE contract, and update contracts when salaries change.
• Keep records of every lawful deduction, so they can be explained under the 85% rule. See our guide to salary deductions in the UAE.
• Pay final settlements on time too. The 14-day final settlement deadline runs separately from WPS.

If you outsource payroll, you can hand over the work but not the legal responsibility. Under Resolution No. 340, the employer remains fully responsible for paying on time.

More UAE payroll guides: UAE Labour Law 2027 Guide | Overtime Calculation in the UAE | Leave Salary Calculation in the UAE

Pay every salary through WPS by the 1st, every month

Our WPS services team prepares and checks your SIF, works to your bank’s cut-off, and reconciles every payment against MoHRE records, so a rejected file or an “unfulfilled” status is caught before it turns into a violation. For full payroll, including overtime, leave salary, gratuity and final settlements, see our UAE payroll services and payroll compliance support. Get a WPS quote for your headcount.

FAQs on WPS in the UAE

Sources:
UAE Government Portal: Payment of salaries and wages |
MoHRE: Wages Protection System |
MoHRE: WPS for domestic worker professions |
Central Bank of the UAE: UAE Wages Protection System |
Central Bank Rulebook: Access to the Wages Protection System |
MoHRE: New update for the Wages Protection System |

M. A. Farahat – ACPA, CFE, CICA

Research and Publications Department
Payroll Middle East
Tel: +971 4 2500251 | Email: sales@payrollmiddleeast.com