The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) has tightened labour-market safeguards by requiring every private-sector employer to purchase a Worker Protection Insurance (WPI) policy before it can obtain – or renew – a work permit. The decision, explained in new guidance circulated on 23 July 2026, folds the two-year-old WPI scheme into the standard electronic permit workflow. Employers must now upload an active policy number when they apply on the Tasheel or MOHRE smart-services platforms; applications without a verified policy cannot proceed. Four tiers of cover are available, with annual premiums ranging from AED 40 to AED 100 per employee. The basic tier insures unpaid wages, end-of-service gratuity, return-airfare and repatriation of remains, up to AED 20,000 per worker for a 30-month period. MoHRE says the change offers three benefits: 1) faster claim settlement for employees if a company becomes insolvent or absconds; 2) lower cash outlay for SMEs because it replaces the AED 3,000 bank guarantee previously required for each expatriate; and 3) automated compliance monitoring through the Wage Protection System. Companies that meet Emiratisation quotas and keep a clean WPS record will be eligible for fee discounts of up to 80 percent on other MoHRE services. For global mobility managers the message is clear: budget AED 40-100 per hire, add the policy reference to onboarding checklists, and verify that manpower agencies are including insurance in their quotations. Failure to maintain cover triggers electronic holds on new permit applications and, for repeat offenders, travel bans on the responsible signatories. The UAE joins jurisdictions such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar that have shifted from bank guarantees to cheap pooled insurance to protect foreign workers – a trend relocation programmes must factor into cost projections, statement-of-work templates and vendor-management audits.
Source: Gulf News
