UAE: Lost your job? You must subscribe to new scheme for 12 months to claim insurance

Employees in the UAE have begun signing up for the country’s insurance scheme against job loss after subscriptions opened on January 1. Emiratis and expatriates working in federal government departments and private sector companies can sign up for the scheme on the Involuntary Loss of Employment (ILOE) website and app.

However, in order to be eligible for compensation, employees must have been subscribed to the scheme for at least 12 consecutive months. This means employees who sign up for the scheme in January 2023 will become eligible for compensation in the event of job loss in January 2024.

“The insured must be subscribed for at least 12 consecutive months to be eligible for a cash compensation,” the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (Mohre) had said in a Press statement issued in December.

One of the policy terms and conditions specified on the ILOE website states: “The insured becomes entitled to the insurance coverage stipulated in this policy after 12 months have passed from the date of the subscription, provided that there is no interruption of subscription for more than three months.”

Another states that the insurance certificate shall be “considered cancelled” if the insured fails to make any payment for more than 90 days from its due date. “No part of the paid insurance premium will be refunded in the event of cancellation of the insurance certificate.”

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The unemployment insurance law also specifies other points under ‘eligibility requirements and suspension of compensation’:

>> The insured should not have been dismissed for disciplinary reasons.