Dubai: Lost your job in the UAE? If you’ve been keeping up with your unemployment insurance payments under the Involuntary Loss of Employment (ILOE) scheme, you may be eligible for financial compensation while you look for your next job. But how much can you expect to receive, and for how long?
What is the UAE’s Unemployment Insurance scheme?
The unemployment insurance scheme, officially called the Involuntary Loss of Employment (ILOE) scheme, was launched by the UAE’s Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) in collaboration with the ILOE Insurance Pool.
The scheme is mandatory for all private sector and federal government employees and gives workers the chance to receive 60 per cent of their basic salary in for three months, after losing their jobs.
However, there is a cap on the maximum amount you will receive – Dh10,000 for the first category of workers and Dh20,000 for the second category.
There are two categories of the insurance scheme, with Category 1 for workers with a basic salary of AED10,000 or lower, who have to pay an annual premium of AED60, and Category 2, for those with a basic salary higher than AED10,000, who pay an annual premium of AED120.
For a detailed guide on the ILOE scheme, click here.
ILOE calculator
The ILOE platform offers a simple online calculator, which allows you to find out exactly how much your ILOE payout will be. To use the calculator, follow these steps:
Go to https://www.iloe.ae/Calculator.aspx
Select your reason for unemployment: termination, resignation, disciplinary action.
Enter last working date and claim submission date.
The calculator will then ask you to confirm if you fulfil certain eligibility criteria for the ILOE payout, like whether you have been subscribed to the insurance scheme for at least 12 consecutive months, whether you are still legally residing in the UAE, and whether you are an owner or partner in the company from where you were terminated.
Next, you will be asked to enter the basic salary you have drawn for the past six months, as per your labour contract.
The calculator will then give you the amount of ILOE payout per month. You will receive this amount for three months of unemployment, provided you continue meeting the eligibility criteria.
Nine conditions you need to meet
In order to be eligible for the unemployment insurance payout, you need to meet the following criteria, based on Article 9 of the Cabinet Resolution No. 97 of 2022 which sets out regulations related to the Unemployment Insurance Scheme:
1. You should have been subscribed to the ILOE scheme for at least 12 consecutive months.
2. You’ve continued to pay all the insurance premiums during this period.
3. Proof that your unemployment is not the result of resigning from your job.
4. You should not have been dismissed from work for disciplinary reasons.
5. That the claim is submitted within 30 days from the date of the termination, or the court ruling, in case of a labour court decision.
6. That no pending complaint for absence from work (absconding report) has been filed against you.
7. That the claim for compensation is not based on cheating or fraud and that the establishment is not fictitious.
8. The loss of work is not the result of non-peaceful labour disturbances or interruptions, whether they resulted in damage or not.
9. That you are a legal resident of the UAE.
To know more about the process you need to follow to claim your unemployment insurance, read our detailed guide here.
