GPSSA outlines ways to continue service years without interruption

The General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA) has called on insured Emiratis to improve their retirement decisions and take advantage of insurance benefits by exploring three available options before deciding to terminate their employment contract.

The first option is taking advantage of the conditions underlined in the “Shourak” project, which was introduced by the GPSSA for individuals whose employment services have ended after July 2023.

The second opportunity is to take advantage of the benefits of transferring jobs between governmental authorities affiliated with the GPSSA as per the UAE Pension Law. The third option includes benefiting from the “system for exchanging insurance benefits between pension funds operating in the UAE” under Cabinet Resolution No. 46 of 2019.

As part of GPSSA’s “End It Right” awareness campaign and the controls and provisions set by the UAE Pension Authority, it is important to be aware of the projects that allow insured individuals to move from one employer to the other, while retaining their end-of-service benefits without the need to incur additional costs to merge service years when move to a new job.

Shourak’s primary goal is to support insured Emiratis to become entitled to receive the highest pension amount possible by completing the necessary period without the need to bear any merge-related costs.

Shourak is only catered to employees working in entities registered with the GPSSA. If the entity is not registered, there are other options insured Emiratis can pursue, including “the system for exchanging insurance benefits between pension funds operating in the UAE”.

The exchange insurance benefits system includes all or any pension authorities subject to the UAE Pension Law alongside its pension conditions, whether shifting jobs from a federal to a governmental sector or from the military service to the civil service, or vice versa. The process is governed and dependent on the human resources regulations in each emirate, making it one of the most important and beneficial features available in the UAE Pension Law.

However, the system for exchanging insurance benefits is only applicable if the insured individual’s entity is registered with a UAE-based pension fund and the insured has been transferred after a decision was made by a competent authority subject to the system.

Insured individuals must be fully aware of the mechanisms for exchanging benefits and the fund costs, calculated based on the end-of-service gratuity of the previous contribution period for the insured individual transferring jobs, leading to a pension entitlement or gratuity.

The insured must also know the total amounts paid if they are not entitled to a pension or end-of-service gratuity. Additionally, suppose the transfer is based on an entity’s request; in that case, they are obligated to pay the financial differences, which are calculated on the cost of adding the previous service period and the transfer cost, differences that are calculated in accordance to the provisions of the system to which they are transferred.

The procedures involved in transferring and exchanging insurance benefits should be completed within a period of not more than six months from the date of the specified transfer decision.