Recently, the growth of economic activity in the United Arab Emirates and the increase in demand for labor resources have led to a significant increase in wages. The number of workers enrolled in the system of wage protection managed by the Central Bank has also increased. According to the data, private companies and some governmental organizations paid 47 billion dirhams in wages to workers last year, and the number of new employees reached 700 thousand people.
"Wage protection" represents a system of electronic wage transfer, which allows organizations to pay salaries through banks, exchange points, and financial institutions, also simplifying the inclusion of low-paid workers in the official financial sector. According to the Central Bank, the average number of registered workers in the wage protection system, processing all wages paid by private companies and some governmental organizations, grew from 5.2 million workers at the end of 2022 to 5.9 million at the end of last year, with an increase of 700 thousand new workers.
In the report, published by "Central", it is noted that the total volume of operations for the payment of wages increased from 55.5 million operations in 2022 to 62.6 million operations in 2023, an increase of 7.1 million operations. It was noted that the total wage payment volume through the wage protection system at the end of last year amounted to 296 billion dirhams compared to 249 billion dirhams at the end of 2022, indicating an annual growth of 47 billion dirhams, which constitutes 18.9%.
It should be noted that the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation earlier this year announced that 99% of workers employed in private enterprises, registered with the ministry at the national level, fall under the structure of "Wage Protection." The Ministry collaborates with the Central Bank of the UAE to implement the "Wage Protection System of the UAE" since 2009, aimed at ensuring a safe, effective, and permanent mechanism for the convenient timely payment of wages to workers by employers.
