WPS Payroll Guide for UAE Employers

The UAE Wage Protection System (WPS) requires employers to pay salaries through banks or financial institutions approved by the Central Bank of the UAE, and to submit a Salary Information File (SIF) to MOHRE each payroll period so labour records match bank transfers. SMEs with employees on MOHRE establishment licences must comply — cash salary to covered employees violates WPS rules and can trigger fines, blocked visas, and establishment rating penalties.

Each SIF must include employee MOHRE IDs, valid 23-character UAE IBANs starting with AE, salary components matching employment contracts, and pay period dates in the bank's required format. Rejections usually stem from invalid IBANs, mismatched basic vs total salary, employees not on the same establishment, or incorrect file encoding — not calculation errors. Validate data before export and reconcile bank confirmations after transfer.

Run payroll with correct basic salary, allowances, and deductions. Generate and validate the SIF before the pay date. Execute bank salary transfers for all covered employees within MOHRE deadlines — typically within 15 days of the due date. Archive payslips, SIF submission receipts, and bank confirmations for at least two years for audits.

ArcHR generates MOHRE-aligned SIF exports from each payroll run, validates employee IBANs before export, and sends deadline reminders. Bilingual payslips and contract-aligned salary fields reduce the mismatch errors that cause most WPS rejections.