WPP insurance for UAE employers

What is WPP insurance?

WPP is the Workers Protection Programme. It pays workers’ entitlements when an employer goes bankrupt or fails to pay. WPS, the Wage Protection System, is a separate regime that monitors how wages are paid.

Do you buy a policy or lodge a bank guarantee?

You choose between a bank guarantee of AED 3,000 for each worker and insurance for each worker. Establishments that MOHRE classes as high-risk insure each worker, and the guarantee is not offered to them. Both rules are in Art 8 of Cabinet Resolution 18 of 2022, which applies to establishments under the Labour Law.¹ Ministerial Resolution 318 of 2022 implements the choice.²

Ask MOHRE whether it classes your establishment as high-risk.

How much does a WPP policy cost?

The Insurance Pool publishes a price per worker for a 30-month policy, with and without VAT.³ The government page shows the same amounts.⁴

The government page labels the AED 250 product “High-risk establishments, not compliant with the wages protection system”.⁴

Check whether a price you are quoted includes VAT.

What does the policy pay?

The government page lists what it covers:⁴

• unpaid wages, up to the last 120 days before the last working day
• end-of-service benefits
• repatriation costs
• repatriation of the body on death
• medical expenses from work injury or occupational disease
• airfare for absconding workers, where a report was filed and the worker was apprehended during the cover period

Health insurance is outside the policy.

Do you repay the insurer after a claim?

Yes. Cover does not release the employer, which repays the insurer. If it does not, MOHRE suspends the employer’s file, freezes new work permits and requires the AED 3,000 guarantee on renewal of existing permits. That provision applies to firms and not to domestic labour.⁴

The Ministry may also use the cover or guarantee for repatriation costs, amounts the employer acknowledges, court judgments and authority claims for repatriation. The employer reimburses or tops up.²

When do you buy the policy, and can you get a guarantee back?

For a new worker, you buy the policy when you apply for the work permit, or you lodge the guarantee. A worker already under a guarantee can move to insurance only when the permit is renewed.⁴ A refund of the guarantee on moving to insurance at renewal needs no salary payment violation in the six months before renewal.⁴

A guarantee can be reclaimed when the permit is cancelled and the worker has left the country, when the worker has died and been repatriated or buried, on transfer to a new employer, or on other proof of cancellation and payment of dues. The Ministry may refuse during a collective labour dispute, or where fines are due or permits are suspended.²

Check the renewal date of each permit that is still under a guarantee.

Does WPP apply to free zone companies?

The texts do not say. The Labour Law applies to establishments, employers and workers in the private sector in the State, and excludes government staff, armed forces and domestic workers.⁵ Neither that article nor Art 8 mentions free zones. The Insurance Pool says the scheme insures workers registered with MOHRE.⁶ One law firm says DIFC and ADGM entities are excluded.⁷

Four free-zone documents carry worker protection terms of their own.

These come from RAKEZ’s page⁸ and Operating Rules,⁹ DMCC’s press release,¹⁰ schedule of charges¹¹ and Jumpstart terms,¹² the Jafza Rules¹³ and the Dubai South file.¹⁴

Ask MOHRE for a written answer on free zone establishments.

How is WPP different from WPS?

WPP pays workers when an employer defaults. WPS monitors how wages are paid. Morgan Lewis reported on 22 May 2026 that Ministerial Resolution 340 of 2026 would come into force on 1 June 2026, repeal Ministerial Resolution 598 of 2022, set a unified wage due date and raise the compliance threshold to 85%.¹⁵

Ask MOHRE whether the new WPS resolution changes who is treated as high-risk under WPP.

Is there a separate policy for domestic workers?

Yes. The policy for domestic workers carries a limit of AED 20,000 per claim, including all claims in the cover period. It lists unpaid end-of-service benefits, wages to the last 120 days, repatriation, occupational medical costs, repatriation of the body and airfare for absconding workers.⁴