WPS Compliance UAE 2026: How Salaries Must Be Paid (SIF Files, Deadlines and Fines)

What is WPS in the UAE, and who has to use it?

The Wage Protection System is MOHRE's electronic salary-transfer system. You pay wages through a Central Bank-approved agent (a bank, an exchange house or an approved financial institution), and MOHRE sees, worker by worker, who was paid and when.

It covers establishments registered with MOHRE. Article 4 of Resolution 340 lists the exclusions, among them seafarers, workers on approved unpaid leave, mission work permits of up to three months, banks and financial institutions, and places of worship.

There is no small-company exemption. Claims that firms with "fewer than five" or "fewer than ten" staff are exempt aren't in the resolution. A two-person trading company in Deira pays through WPS like everyone else.

Don't confuse WPS with WPP, which is employer-paid insurance tied to the work permit. Our guide to WPP insurance and how it differs from WPS explains both.

The SIF file, record by record

The Salary Information File (SIF) is a comma-separated text file (CSV), not an Excel sheet. Per bank specifications (e.g. Dubai Islamic Bank), it has three record types:

The file name is your employer ID, then the date (YYMMDD) and time (HHMMSS), with a .SIF extension.

The totals must reconcile: the SCR count and salary total must equal the EDR lines. The layout can differ between agents, so build to your own agent's specification, not an internet template.

What happens if you miss the 1st?

Each row has conditions a table can't hold. The full ladder is in our explainer on the 2026 UAE salary rules.

Why does a WPS salary file get rejected?

A rejected file pays nobody, and the clock keeps running. The usual causes:

• Wrong routing code. One wrong digit can reject the whole file.
• File name in the wrong format. The name follows a fixed pattern (employer ID, date, time, .SIF); a file saved under any other name can be refused.
• Totals don't add up. An employee removed from the EDRs but left in the SCR count.
• Wrong person ID. It must be the MOHRE person number the ministry holds for that worker, not a passport, visa or Emirates ID number.
• Pay that doesn't match the MOHRE contract. MOHRE expects wages in the amount agreed in the employment contract, so a raise or cut that was never filed leaves your WPS record and the contract out of step.

That last one isn't a software problem. It needs a contract amendment filed with MOHRE, which is PRO document work. Until the records match, every month repeats the mismatch.

What about free zones and domestic workers?

Free zones. Free-zone visa holders aren't on MOHRE work permits, so MOHRE's WPS rules don't reach them the same way. Some zones run their own salary-transfer rules; DMCC publishes its own WPS registration guidelines. Check with your zone.

Domestic workers. In April 2023 MOHRE said five domestic professions must be registered in WPS and 14 are optional. If you sponsor household staff, see our guide to sponsoring a domestic worker on a golden visa.

Who should handle WPS in your company?

You can learn this on the job over two years, one rejected file and one blocked permit at a time. Or someone on your team can train for it in three days and walk in prepared. Sarmat's Certified PRO Program is KHDA-certified and covers the MOHRE filing side: establishment files, work permits and contract updates. It's AED 2,890, or roughly AED 720 a month through Tabby or Tamara.

Which deductions are lawful is a legal question, taught in a separate one-day course: UAE Labour Law Training, AED 999, with its own certificate.

Or hand it to our PRO services team in Dubai, which has served 5,000+ clients over 12+ years from Deira.

Got a rejected file or a MOHRE notice?

Send the rejection message or notice to us on WhatsApp and we'll tell you what caused it and what to file next. You can also reach us through our contact page.