Updated August 2026
GCC HR & Payroll Glossary
This glossary defines the 32 terms that matter most when running HR and payroll in the UAE and Saudi Arabia — from WPS and gratuity to GOSI, Qiwa and Nitaqat. Every compliance definition was reviewed on 1 August 2026 against the rules then in force, including Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026.
UAE compliance
- ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market)
- ADGM is an Abu Dhabi financial free zone with its own employment regulations, which apply to ADGM-registered employers instead of the federal UAE Labour Law.
- DEWS (DIFC Employee Workplace Savings)
- DEWS is the funded workplace savings scheme that replaced end-of-service gratuity for most DIFC employees, requiring monthly employer contributions to a regulated trust.
- DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre)
- DIFC is a Dubai financial free zone with its own employment law, DIFC Employment Law No. 2 of 2019, which applies instead of the federal UAE Labour Law.
- Emiratisation
- Emiratisation is the UAE policy requiring private-sector employers with 50 or more skilled staff to raise the Emirati share of skilled roles by 2% each year, reaching 10% by the end of 2026.
- End-of-service gratuity
- End-of-service gratuity is the lump sum a UAE employer owes an employee with at least one year of continuous service, calculated on basic salary under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021.
- ILOE (Involuntary Loss of Employment insurance)
- ILOE is the UAE's mandatory unemployment insurance scheme, providing eligible private-sector and federal employees with limited income support after involuntary job loss.
- Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026
- Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026 is the UAE regulation, in force from 1 June 2026, that sets wages due on the 1st of each month and requires 85% of total wages to clear WPS by then.
- MOHRE (Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation)
- MOHRE is the UAE federal ministry that regulates private-sector employment, issuing work permits and labour cards and enforcing the Wage Protection System and Emiratisation quotas.
- Nafis
- Nafis is the UAE federal programme that supports Emirati employment in the private sector through salary support, pension contributions and training subsidies.
- SIF (Salary Information File)
- A Salary Information File (SIF) is the fixed-format text file a UAE employer submits to transfer wages through the Wage Protection System.
- UAE Labour Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021)
- Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 is the UAE's private-sector employment law, governing contracts, working hours, leave, termination and end-of-service entitlements.
- WPS (Wage Protection System)
- The Wage Protection System (WPS) is the UAE's mandatory electronic salary transfer system, operated by MOHRE and the Central Bank, through which private-sector employers must pay registered workers.
Saudi compliance
- GOSI (General Organization for Social Insurance)
- GOSI is Saudi Arabia's social insurance authority, collecting mandatory contributions from employers and employees to fund pensions and occupational hazard cover.
- Iqama
- An iqama is the Saudi residency permit that allows an expatriate worker to live and work in the Kingdom, sponsored by their employer and subject to periodic renewal.
- Mudad
- Mudad is Saudi Arabia's wage protection platform, through which employers file payroll data so the ministry can verify that wages were paid correctly and on time.
- Muqeem
- Muqeem is the Saudi digital platform used by employers to manage expatriate residency services, including iqama issuance and renewal, exit and re-entry visas.
- Nitaqat
- Nitaqat is Saudi Arabia's Saudization programme, which grades private-sector establishments into coloured bands according to the proportion of Saudi nationals they employ.
- Qiwa
- Qiwa is the Saudi Ministry of Human Resources digital platform used to authenticate employment contracts, manage work permits and track establishment compliance.
- SANED
- SANED is Saudi Arabia's unemployment insurance programme, administered by GOSI, which pays a temporary benefit to Saudi nationals who lose employment involuntarily.
- Saudi end-of-service award
- The Saudi end-of-service award is the terminal payment owed under the Saudi Labour Law, calculated at half a month's wage per year for the first five years and a full month thereafter.
- Saudization
- Saudization is the Saudi national policy requiring private-sector employers to hire a minimum proportion of Saudi nationals, enforced through the Nitaqat banding system.
Payroll
- Final settlement
- A final settlement is the closing payment made to a departing employee, combining outstanding salary, unused leave, end-of-service gratuity and any contractual dues, less lawful deductions.
- Payroll cycle
- The payroll cycle is the recurring process of calculating, approving and disbursing employee pay, together with the statutory filings attached to it.
- PEPM (Per employee per month)
- PEPM is the SaaS pricing model that charges a fixed amount for each employee each month, as opposed to a flat fee per tier of users.
HR operations
- ATS (Applicant Tracking System)
- An applicant tracking system manages the hiring pipeline — job postings, applications, screening stages, interviews and offers — in one place.
- Employee lifecycle
- The employee lifecycle is the full sequence of stages an employee passes through with an employer, from recruitment and onboarding to development, retention and exit.
- HRMS (Human Resource Management System)
- An HRMS is software that manages the employee lifecycle in one system — records, payroll, attendance, leave, recruitment and performance.
AI & automation
- AI agent
- An AI agent in HR is software that takes a natural-language instruction and carries out a multi-step task autonomously, returning a completed result for human approval.
- AI resume screening
- AI resume screening is the automated evaluation and ranking of job applications against role requirements, producing a shortlist with stated reasons rather than a keyword filter.
- AI-native HRMS
- An AI-native HRMS is a platform built around AI agents that complete HR tasks end to end, rather than a conventional HRMS with AI features added to existing modules.
- Human-in-the-loop
- Human-in-the-loop describes an automation design in which AI prepares the work but a person reviews and approves before any consequential action is taken.
- One-prompt workflow
- A one-prompt workflow is an HR task completed from a single natural-language instruction, replacing a sequence of forms, screens and manual approvals.
Compliance you don't have to memorise
NeuralHR.AI handles UAE WPS, gratuity and Emiratisation alongside Saudi GOSI, Qiwa and Mudad in one platform — so these rules are enforced by the system rather than tracked by your team. See the best AI-powered HRMS in UAE or browse the full guide library.