Unemployment Insurance in the Gulf: ILOE, SANED and the Other Schemes

If you lose your job as an expat in the Gulf, the UAE and Bahrain are the two countries where unemployment insurance can pay you. In the UAE the scheme is called ILOE and it is compulsory for most private-sector and federal workers. Saudi Arabia (SANED), Oman and Kuwait pay their own citizens only, and Qatar's Social Insurance Law covers Qataris only and has no unemployment branch. In the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain, resigning or being dismissed for misconduct is excluded.

Not sure where you stand? Use the unemployment insurance check.

Figures are the rules each scheme sets. Your own amount depends on your wage record. Conditions below apply as well as the numbers in this table.

Who is covered

The scheme covers private-sector and federal workers, Emiratis and residents alike (Decree-Law 13/2022, Art. 3). Five groups are exempt: investors who own and manage the whole business, domestic workers, contract workers on a temporary basis, under-18s, and pensioners who have joined a new employer. New job holders are not exempt: MoHRE says workers who received a work permit after 1 October 2023 must register within four months.

What it costs and how to subscribe

Premiums are up to AED 5 a month if your basic salary is AED 16,000 or less, and up to AED 10 a month above that, plus VAT (Cabinet Resolution 97/2022, Art. 7). Both the premium and the payout are worked out on your basic salary, not your total package (Art. 1). You can pay monthly, quarterly, twice a year or yearly.

Subscribing on the ILOE website (iloe.ae) or the ILOE app adds no service charge. Other channels, such as business service centres, ATMs and kiosks, exchange houses, some bank apps and SMS, can add a service charge. By SMS, send ID, a space and your Emirates ID number to 2120.

Fines, and how they can come out of your gratuity

Unpaid fines and premiums can be taken from your salary through the Wages Protection System or from your end of service gratuity (Art. 8). So an ILOE deduction on your final settlement can be legitimate: check the figures with the settlement checker. MoHRE has also said that workers who do not comply can face measures including being refused new work permits.

How much and how long

Each claim pays 60% of your basic salary (the average of the last six months) for up to three months, capped at AED 10,000 a month in category A (basic salary AED 16,000 or less) and AED 20,000 in category B, following the category you subscribed to (Art. 10; Ministerial Resolution 604/2022, Art. 7). Over your working life in the UAE you can receive at most 12 months of compensation. ILOE compensation does not reduce your other statutory entitlements (Decree-Law 13/2022, Art. 6(5)).

Conditions (Cabinet Resolution 97/2022, Art. 9)

• At least 12 consecutive months of subscription, with all premiums paid on time.
• Unemployment for a reason other than your resignation.
• Not dismissed for disciplinary reasons.
• Claim within 30 days of the end of the employment, or of the court's ruling on your labour complaint.
• No absconding report, no fraud, and no loss of work caused by strikes or other non-peaceful protest.
• Legal residence in the UAE. Payment stops if you find a new job.

The ILOE policy terms add that a break in subscription must not exceed 3 consecutive months.

How to claim

The ILOE claims guide gives the call centre as 600 599 555 and the claims email as claims@iloe.ae. The reason on your permit cancellation decides your claim, so check it is accurate before you sign it (Ministerial Resolution 604/2022, Art. 7). Read the UAE gratuity after resignation guide and use the UAE calculator for your gratuity.

SANED applies compulsorily to Saudi workers who were under 59 when it first applied to them, and a claimant must be a Saudi national (SANED Law, Arts. 3 and 8). Expat workers are not covered. GOSI set the rate at 1.5% of the insured wage from 1 January 2022, split equally between worker and employer.

• Benefit: 60% of the average insured monthly wage over the last 24 months for each of the first three months, then 50% (Art. 11). The cap is SAR 9,000 a month for the first three months and SAR 7,500 after that (Art. 12).
• Duration: up to 12 months per entitlement, and no more than 12 months in any 24 (Art. 13).
• Qualifying period: for a first claim, 12 months of work in the 36 months before the claim. A second claim needs 18 months in 36, a third 24 in 36, and later claims 36 in 48 (Art. 14).
• Excluded: leaving work of your own will, being dismissed for your own fault, and reaching age 60 (Art. 8). Payment stops if you leave Saudi Arabia (Art. 15).
• Deadline: register with the ministry within 90 days of leaving work (Art. 10).
• Employer did not pay contributions: your right to compensation still stands (Art. 18).

Check the current online claim steps on GOSI's site before you start. Your end of service benefit is separate: see the KSA calculator.

Bahrain's scheme covers private-sector workers who are under the work-injury insurance of the Social Insurance Law, which includes expats, plus civil servants and first-time job seekers (Art. 2). An unemployed expat must be lawfully resident in Bahrain for the purpose of seeking work, and loses the right if their residence becomes illegal or they leave the country for good (Arts. 10 and 24). The first-time job-seeker aid (BD 200 for graduates, BD 150 for others, up to 9 months) is for Bahrainis only.

• Contributions: 1% from the worker, 1% from the employer and 1% from the government. For the private sector the law has the Labour Fund pay the employer share (Art. 6).
• Benefit: 60% of your average monthly wage over the last 12 months, up to BD 1,000 a month (Art. 11), with a minimum of BD 200 or your average wage if lower (Art. 12).
• Duration: up to 9 months, and no more than 9 in any 24 months (Art. 14).
• Qualifying period: 12 continuous months of insured work for a first claim (Art. 15).
• Excluded: leaving work of your own will, reaching retirement age, and disciplinary dismissal (Art. 10).
• Deadline: register at the Ministry of Labour office within 30 days to be paid from day 8. The outer limit is 3 months from the end of the employment (Arts. 13 and 21).
• With your indemnity: you can combine compensation with your entitlements from the employer (Art. 16).

See the Bahrain calculator for your leaving indemnity.

Oman's Social Protection Law has been in force since 1 January 2024. Its Job Security branch applies compulsorily to Omanis working in Oman, on all contract types. It does not apply to self-employed or part-time workers (Law, Art. 115). Expats are not covered. Contributions are 0.5% from the employer and 0.5% from the worker (Art. 116).

• Benefit: 60% of the average wage of the last two years, with no ceiling and a minimum of OMR 115 a month (Art. 119).
• Duration: up to 6 months, together or in parts (Art. 119).
• Qualifying period: first claim, 12 months of contributions in the 36 months before service ended. Later claims need 18 in 42, 24 in 48 and 36 in 60 (Executive Regulation, Art. 87).
• Excluded: leaving of your own will, disciplinary dismissal, reaching old-age age and being in regular full-time education (Art. 86). It cannot be combined with a pension, except a partial permanent occupational disability pension (Art. 90).
• Deadline: apply within 12 months of the day service actually ended, and you may refuse no more than 3 suitable job offers (Art. 88).
• Who runs it: the Ministry of Labour handles registration and entitlement, and the Social Protection Fund collects contributions and pays (Law, Art. 117).

Your gratuity is separate: see the Oman calculator.

Law 101/2013 applies to Kuwaitis working for private-sector or oil-sector employers (Art. 1). Expat workers are not covered by it. Contributions are 0.5% from the worker, 0.5% from the employer and 0.5% from the state treasury (Art. 3).

• Benefit: 60% of the salary your retirement pension is calculated on (Art. 4).
• Duration: up to 6 months each time (Art. 6).
• Conditions: aged 18 to 60, 6 months of continuous contributions before each claim, able to work and not entitled to a pension. Register within 30 days to be paid from day 8 (Arts. 5 to 7).

Ask PIFSS how your reason for leaving affects a claim. Your indemnity is separate: see the Kuwait calculator.

Qatar's Social Insurance Law (Law 1/2022) covers Qataris only and has no unemployment branch. Confirm with the Ministry of Labour (mol.gov.qa) if you think a scheme applies to you.

What you do have is your gratuity: at least three weeks of last basic wage per year after one full year of service, with no reduction for resigning (Labour Law, Art. 54). Use the Qatar calculator.

If your employer ended the job, make sure the paperwork says so. In the UAE the reason on your permit cancellation is used to decide your claim.

Your end of service money does not depend on unemployment insurance. Calculate it with the calculator for your country, and if it is not paid, see where to file a labour complaint in the Gulf. If you are leaving the country, track your visa deadline with the visa grace period tracker.