Abu Dhabi raises Emiratis’ pension in public schools to 80% of salary

ABU DHABI: Under the directives of UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and to ensure citizens’ wellbeing, Abu Dhabi Executive Council has approved a new decision to raise pensions of UAE Nationals working in the emirate’s public schools to 80% of their total salary, contributing to beter living standards and more financial stability for Emirati families.

The decision, which is in line with continued efforts to empower, atract and retain UAE Nationals in the education sector, will benefit more than 7,600 Emiratis working in Abu Dhabi’s public schools in their retirement.

Abu Dhabi Government will spend more than Dhs6.6 billion to implement the new pension rate, paying the difference between the current monthly deductions and the higher 80% rate for the entire service period of eligible employees.

The decision ensures public school national employees receive the same benefit as all government employees.

Based on a detailed study, conducted by the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge, in coordination with the Department of Finance, the Human Resources Authority and the Abu Dhabi pension Fund, the decision will not affect salaries. However, eligible employees will receive a higher retirement pension compared to the previous pension.

The decision will also provide new job opportunities for young Emiratis to enter the public education sector by encouraging eligible employees to apply for retirement.

Recently, the General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA) called on employers across government and private sectors to provide full end-of-service details and files of their Emirati employees, who are insured members of the authority, within a month from the employment ending.

The UAE’S pension authority said that during this timeframe it setles and expedites the insured individuals’ rights and benefits, based on Article 12 of Federal Law No. 7 of 1999 for Pensions and Social Security and its amendments.

“There are three scenarios for the end-ofservice files: an insured who is not entitled to an end-of-service gratuity because they have been employed for less than one year; a file whose owner deserves an end-of-service gratuity for spending more than one year and up to 19 years and 11 months working in an entity, and the third scenario is a file whose owner is entitled to a pension as they have worked for more than 19 years, 11 months and an additional day,” Hind Al Suwaidi, Head of the Benefits Management Department at the GPSSA, said.

“In the last scenario, the additional day is considered a full month as stipulated in the law, entitling the individual to receive a pension for a period of 20 years of service.”