"Pensions": the pension and social insurance system in the most generous and sustainable country

The General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA) has confirmed that the pension and social insurance system in the UAE is the most generous and sustainable in terms of insurance benefits and solvency, and enjoys high flexibility that is not available to its counterparts from pension funds around the world, in terms of extension and coverage of insurance coverage to a large segment of dependent family members who meet the eligibility conditions.

As part of the media campaign launched to encourage the insured to proactively plan for the post-retirement phase "Be Ready", the Authority added that the flexibility of the social insurance system in the country stems from the fact that the law allows the extension of the pension from the father to the widow, children, brothers, sisters, parents, and son's children if the terms and conditions are met.

Also, the pension may not be interrupted over decades that may extend to more than 79 years, given the high average age of females in the country, as the daughter does not leave the pension due to age, unlike the son, and the closed pension file may be reopened again if one of the dependents has a case of entitlement.

In addition, the Pensions Law may introduce a share if the daughter, sister or mother is widowed or divorced, or if the son or brother becomes unable to earn after the death of the pensioner and none of them has a salary or other pension.

The Authority pointed to an important feature of the Federal Pension Law, which is that the pension is paid at the maximum and at the rate of 100% of the contribution calculation salary if the period of the insured's contribution to the insurance reaches 35 years, and the pension is granted at the same rate if the insured suffers during his work total disability or death due to a work injury, even if the period of his contribution to the insurance is one month.

In addition, the Pensions Law provides many services that give the insured opportunities to meet the period of service eligible for a pension, for example, women have the right to purchase a period of 1 to 10 years of legal service to increase their pension upon retirement by 20% if they decide to retire for 20 years of service, and the law also grants men the right to buy from one to 5 years to improve his pension rate by 10%.

The law sets a minimum pension amount of 10,000 dirhams, so that if the pension of any insured at retirement decreases at this limit, he is compensated up to this amount, and the pension law covers the difference for a retiree who returns to work if his salary from new work is less than 10,000 dirhams.

In the event of the termination of the service of the insured due to death as a result of a work injury, the law also provides a compensation paid to his heirs of 75 thousand dirhams distributed among them in accordance with the provisions of inheritance in the Sharia, in addition to the pension paid to the beneficiaries of his family after death, and the insured is entitled to this compensation if the work injury results in total disability, but if this injury results in partial disability, he is entitled to compensation equal to the percentage of disability multiplied by (75) thousand dirhams.

With regard to the deceased pensioner, the law approves the disbursement of a death grant equal to three pensions in addition to the pension for the dependents of his family.