The UAE has sought to protect employees with the introduction of the unemployment insurance scheme. Effective from 1 January 2023, all government and private sector employees were mandated to subscribe to the scheme by 01 October 2023.
As announced, it is now mandatory for semi-government and freezone entities (excluding Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Abu Dhabi Global Markets (ADGM)) to obtain Unemployment Insurance.
While the position is that DIFC and ADGM employees are not mandated to subscribe to the Scheme, it is possible for employees of entities registered in these financial free zones to voluntarily enrol in it.
