HR (HRM)
Country packs: United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia
Run HR and payroll for a legal entity in the UAE or Saudi Arabia: pension and social insurance, end-of-service pay, leave, holidays, working hours, notice, bilingual letters and the wage protection salary file.
Contents: Who can use it · What the packs contain · Install · Employee fields · Payroll · End of service · Salary files · Status of the figures · Example · FAQ
Who can use it
Admins and HR staff who can install country packs on a legal entity. Payroll content (pay components, salary files, contribution schedules) needs payroll on your plan.
What the packs contain
| United Arab Emirates (private sector, mainland) | Saudi Arabia (private sector) | |
|---|---|---|
| Pension / social insurance | Pension for Emiratis: 11% employee and 15% employer for people who joined on or after 31 October 2023 (the government pays 2.5 points of the employer share below AED 20,000), 5% and 12.5% for earlier members; salary between AED 3,000 and 70,000 | GOSI on basic plus housing, up to SAR 45,000: Saudis 9.75% employee and 11.75% employer (10.75% and 12.75% for people first registered on or after 3 July 2024, from July 2026); others 2% employer |
| End of service | Gratuity: 21 days of basic wage a year for five years, 30 days after, from one year of service, at most two years' wage | Award: half a month a year for five years, a month after; on resignation nothing under two years, a third from two to five, two thirds from five to ten, all from ten |
| Annual leave | 30 days | 21 days, 30 after five years |
| Other leave | Sick (15 full, 30 half, 45 unpaid), maternity 60 days, parental 5 days, bereavement, study | Sick (30 full, 60 three-quarter, 30 unpaid), maternity 12 weeks, paternity 3 days, marriage, bereavement, Hajj, iddah, exam |
| Holidays | New Year, Commemoration Day, National Day (2 days), Eid al-Fitr, Arafat Day, Eid al-Adha, Islamic New Year, the Prophet's Birthday | Founding Day, National Day, Eid al-Fitr (4 days), Eid al-Adha (4 days) |
| Working time | 8 hours a day, 48 a week; overtime at 125% (150% on rest days and holidays), at most 2 hours a day | 8 hours a day, 48 a week (6 and 36 for Muslims in Ramadan); overtime at 150% |
| Notice | 30 days by default (30 to 90 allowed); probation up to 6 months | 30 days by the employee, 60 by the employer; probation up to 180 days |
| Letters | Service certificate, salary certificate, no objection certificate, in English and Arabic | The same set |
| Salary file | WPS salary information file (SIF) | Wage protection salary file (Mudad) with the pay breakdown |
| Statutory schedule | Monthly pension contributions | Monthly GOSI contributions |
| Calendar | Salaries through WPS and pension contributions, by the 15th | GOSI by the 15th, salary file by the 10th |
Each pack also carries contract clauses (English and Arabic), data protection defaults and electronic signature rules.
Install a pack
- Go to Settings → Legal entities and open the legal entity (its country must be the UAE or Saudi Arabia).
- Click Install country pack and choose United Arab Emirates: private sector (draft) or Saudi Arabia: private sector (draft).
- Read the preview: it lists what will be added to your setup (pay components, holidays, leave types, work rules, letters, employee fields).
- Tick the notice that the pack is not yet verified and click Install.
Letters arrive as drafts: read them and publish them in Documents and letters before use. Hijri holidays (Eid, Arafat Day, Islamic New Year, the Prophet's Birthday) are added for this year and the next on the Umm al-Qura calendar, and every following year on their own. The moon sighting or an official announcement can move them by a day: change the date in Holidays when that happens.
Employee fields
The pack adds fields to every employee profile of that country:
- Citizen covered by the national pension: Yes for Emiratis (UAE) or Saudis (Saudi Arabia). Pension and GOSI are worked out from it.
- Pension: registered under the current law: Yes for people who first joined the pension authority on or after 31 October 2023 (UAE) or GOSI on or after 3 July 2024 (Saudi Arabia).
- Labour-registry person ID (UAE): the 14-digit person code from the labour card, needed for the WPS file.
- GOSI registration number (Saudi Arabia).
Put the Emirates ID, national ID or Iqama number under the employee's National ID.
Payroll
The pack's pay group keeps basic, housing, transport and other allowances, overtime and unpaid days, and adds:
- Pension (GPSSA) and Pension (GPSSA, employer) for UAE citizens, or GOSI (annuities and SANED) and GOSI (employer) in Saudi Arabia. They appear on the payslip in the provident fund columns.
- A monthly accrual of end-of-service pay (employer cost, not on the payslip).
There is no income tax in either country.
End of service
When an offboarding settlement is worked out, the pack adds the gratuity (UAE) or the end-of-service award (Saudi Arabia) from the pay on file and the length of service. Unused leave is paid out, and notice not given is paid or taken back. In the UAE the gratuity is on the basic wage, so keep the basic wage as the pay on file; Emiratis in the pension scheme get no gratuity. In Saudi Arabia the award is on the last full wage; dismissal for gross misconduct forfeits it.
Wage protection salary files
In a locked payroll run, open the Bank file tab and choose the country's format.
- WPS salary information file (SIF) (UAE): first enter the Establishment ID (13 digits) and the Employer bank routing code (9 digits) under Pack settings of the legal entity's country pack. Each person needs the labour-registry ID and a verified account with its 9-digit routing code; anyone missing one is listed and the file is not made. The file is named after the establishment and the time it was made, ready to send to your bank or exchange house.
- Wage protection salary file (Mudad) (Saudi Arabia): one row per payment with the national ID or Iqama, IBAN, basic, housing, other earnings, deductions and net pay. Upload it to the wage protection platform or give it to your bank.
Make the monthly contribution schedule in Compliance → Reports to check the pension or GOSI bill.
Status of the figures
Both packs are draft: written from the labour laws, the pension and social insurance rules and the official holiday lists as they stood in 2026, with the source of every item and a list of points the reviewer must confirm. They become verified only after a qualified local reviewer signs. Until then every screen that uses them says the figures are not verified. Your company stays responsible for its filings.
Example scenario
Gulf Trading LLC in Dubai installs the UAE pack. Aisha (Emirati, joined the pension authority in 2024) earns AED 15,000 gross: payroll deducts AED 1,650 pension and books AED 1,875 employer pension. Omar (expatriate, basic AED 6,000) resigns after 7 years: his settlement shows a gratuity of AED 33,000. HR enters the establishment ID and routing code once, then makes the September SIF from the locked run and sends it to the bank.
Troubleshooting and FAQ
The SIF format is not offered. The legal entity's pack is not the UAE pack, or your plan does not include bank file formats.
"Set the employer id …" when making the SIF. Enter the establishment ID and routing code under Pack settings.
A person is listed as missing the labour-registry ID. Fill in Labour-registry person ID (14 digits) on the profile, or check the routing code of their bank account.
Pension is not deducted for a citizen. Set Citizen covered by the national pension to Yes on the profile.
The GOSI rate changes every July. The current scheme rises by half a point each July until 2028. A new version of the pack carries each step; you see it under Compliance → Country packs and upgrade when ready.